Masood Azhar's sisters go digital: Jaish launches 'jihadi course' for women

New Delhi, Oct 22 (IANS) Days after Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) announced the formation of its first-ever women’s wing, named 'Jamaat-ul-Mominaat', sources told IANS on Wednesday that the terror outfit has now launched an online training course, named 'Tufat al-Muminat', to collect funds and recruit as many females as possible.

According to sources, this Women Brigade will be led by Sadiya Azhar, the sister of Masood Azhar, whose husband, Yusuf Azhar, was killed in Operation Sindoor on May 7 when Indian forces struck JeM’s headquarters at Markaz Subhanallah.

"To strengthen the organisation and recruit more females, the women family members of Jaish-e-Mohammed’s leaders, including relatives of Masood Azhar and his commanders, will teach women their duties from the perspectives of jihad, religion and Islam," said sources.

According to people aware of the matter, the recruitment drive via online live lectures is scheduled to begin on November 8.

"Through online meeting platforms for 40 minutes each day, Masood Azhar’s two sisters, Sadiya Azhar and Samaira Azhar, will conduct classes to encourage women to join Jaish-e-Mohammed’s female brigade Jamat ul-Muminat," said sources.

The headquarters of terror outfits such as JeM, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen were destroyed by the Indian airstrikes during Operation Sindoor in retaliation to the Pahalgam attack.

Since then, these outfits, as reported earlier, have been strategically relocating their bases to Pakistan's restive province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) to escape from any Indian strike.

Also, the top leaders of these terrorist organisations since then have been making propaganda videos and have been appealing for funds to re-strengthen their bases and cadre.

Similarly, sources revealed that Masood Azhar is leaving no opportunity to collect donations, and in his latest address at Markaz Usman O Ali in Bahawalpur on September 27, he had appealed for funds.

Now, JeM is also collecting a donation of 500 PKR from every woman enrolling in this JeM course and is also making them fill out an online information form.

Earlier this month, on October 8, Masood Azhar announced the formation of Jaish-e-Mohammed’s women’s brigade, Jamat ul-Muminat, and on October 19 in Rawalakot, PoK, an event called “Dukhtaran-e-Islam” was held to bring women into the group.

While terrorist groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram, Hamas, and LTTE have a history of deploying women as suicide attackers, outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen had largely avoided doing so, but sources now believe JeM’s latest move signals its intent to train and use female suicide bombers in future terror operations.

It is pertinent to note here that while on one hand, Pakistan at global platforms calls itself a victim of terrorism and claims that it implements FATF regulations, on the other side, on its own soil, it supports and promotes these terror outfits, who openly ask for donations under the guise of 'markaz (centres)'.

As reported by IANS in August, JeM has also launched an online fundraising campaign through EasyPaisa to collect Rs 3.91 billion for constructing 313 new markaz across Pakistan.

--IANS

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