JeM Forms Women’s Wing ‘Jamaat-Ul-Mominaat’

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

While groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram, Hamas, and the LTTE have previously deployed female suicide attackers, Pakistan-based outfits like JeM, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, and Hizbul Mujahideen had largely refrained from doing so. Intelligence officials now believe JeM’s latest move indicates its intent to train and deploy female suicide bombers in future terror operations.

The decision to establish the women’s wing was made public through a letter issued in the name of JeM chief and UN-designated terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar. Recruitment for the new unit reportedly began on October 8, 2025, at Markaz Usman-o-Ali in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

According to the letter circulated via JeM’s propaganda outlet Al-Qalam Media, the women’s unit, Jamaat-ul-Mominaat, has begun recruiting the wives of JeM commanders and economically vulnerable women studying at JeM-run centres in Bahawalpur, Karachi, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Haripur, and Mansehra.

The Deobandi-rooted outfit, which had traditionally barred women from armed jihad or combat missions, appears to have revised its stance following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. Intelligence sources suggest that Masood Azhar and his brother Talha al-Saif jointly approved the decision to integrate women into JeM’s operational framework, leading to the formation of this exclusive female brigade.