The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has kicked off an online recruitment and indoctrination campaign aimed at women, a significant strategic move to recruit for its newly established female brigade, Jamat ul-Muminat.
The campaign employs an online platform to bypass Pakistan’s conservative social hierarchy and is said to be spearheaded by close relatives of JeM chief Masood Azhar.
Azhar’s Sisters To Conduct ‘Tufat al-Muminat’ Course
The JeM has launched an online course named ‘Tufat al-Muminat’ (Gift of the Believers) with the clear objective of recruiting and indoctrinating women into the terror outfit.
The Trainers: The 40-minute-a-day online courses, which will start on November 8, will be conducted by JeM chief Masood Azhar’s sisters, Sadiya Azhar and Samaira Azhar.
Leadership Council: Sadiya Azhar, whose husband, JeM commander Yusuf Azhar, was killed in India’s Operation Sindoor, has been made the head of the women’s wing. The leadership council consists of Masood Azhar’s sister Safia and Afreera Farooq, the wife of Pulwama attack plotter Umar Farooq.
The Fee: ₹500 (Pakistani Rupees) is the contribution required for the course in the form of a “donation,” a step that reportedly shows the terror outfit’s ongoing efforts to collect money even as Pakistan vows to be following the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.
Recruitment Shift Signals New Terror Tactics
The establishment of the women’s wing, Jamat ul-Muminat, was announced for the first time by UN-proscribed terrorist Masood Azhar on October 8 at Markaz Usman-o-Ali in Bahawalpur.
The Strategy: Reports suggest that the JeM has gone in for an online recruitment strategy to circumvent freedom of movement constraints on women, with the aim of building a female force along the lines of ISIS, Hamas, and the LTTE.
Suicide Mission Potential: The new women’s unit is meant for propaganda, logistics, and possibly even fedayeen or suicide missions, a radical departure from JeM’s orthodox Deobandi ideology that excluded women from taking part in armed jihad.
Target Profile: Recruitment activities are said to be focusing on wives of JeM commanders and economically stressed women who are enrolled in the group’s schools nationwide, including in Bahawalpur, Karachi, and Muzaffarabad.
Counter-terror authorities indicate the strategy is in direct response to security scrutiny after having conducted large-scale operations, with the JeM leadership becoming aware that women members would be utilized to bypass checkpoints and conduct operational activities.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
