Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), one of Pakistan’s most notorious UN-designated terrorist organizations, has announced the creation of its first-ever women’s wing, Jamaat-ul-Mominaat, marking a significant and alarming evolution in South Asia’s militant landscape. The development signals not only JeM’s strategic recalibration after suffering major setbacks in Operation Sindoor, but also highlights how proscribed groups continue to operate with near-total impunity in Pakistan as much of the international community looks away.
The announcement was made through an official communique from JeM leader and UN-listed terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar. Recruitment for Jamaat-ul-Mominaat began on October 8, 2025, at Markaz Usman-o-Ali in Bahawalpur, focusing on the wives of JeM commanders and economically vulnerable women studying at JeM-run centers in Bahawalpur, Karachi, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Haripur, and Mansehra. The new wing will be led by Azhar’s sister, Sadiya Azhar, whose husband, Yusuf Azhar, was killed during Operation Sindoor on May 7.
This marks a major structural shift for JeM, aligning it with global extremist groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram, and Hamas, which have long deployed women in support and operational roles. Intelligence assessments suggest JeM’s new strategy aims to compensate for diminished manpower by mobilizing women for logistics, recruitment, intelligence gathering, and potentially even suicide attacks—tactics largely absent from South Asia’s jihadist landscape until now.
Despite being banned and internationally sanctioned, JeM continues to operate openly in Pakistan, raising serious concerns about the credibility of the country’s counterterrorism commitments. Historically, bans have amounted to little more than symbolic gestures, with groups rebranding themselves under new names or as NGOs while maintaining their networks, infrastructure, and leadership. Fundraising is conducted brazenly, including online campaigns via popular platforms such as EasyPaisa. Many militant organizations have also shifted into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where they continue to rebuild with minimal resistance.
While JeM’s cross-border activities have drawn periodic condemnation from the US and Europe, these criticisms rarely translate into meaningful diplomatic or economic pressure. Western strategic priorities—from Afghanistan to Iran—frequently overshadow concerns about Pakistan’s sponsorship of extremist networks. The longstanding ties between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and groups like JeM have further blurred the lines between state and non-state actors, making sustained international action difficult. This leniency has allowed militant organizations not only to survive but to expand and diversify.
The formation of Jamaat-ul-Mominaat represents a dangerous normalization of extremist ideology within Pakistan’s social fabric. By targeting economically vulnerable women and the families of commanders, JeM is embedding its ideology deep into communities and shaping the next generation from within. The emergence of female militant wings heightens the risk of women being used for recruitment, intelligence operations, logistical support, and direct violence—mirroring patterns seen in groups such as Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) in Kashmir. Far from empowering women, these groups exploit gender vulnerabilities to advance violent extremism, further entrenching regressive and misogynistic norms.
JeM’s creation of a women’s wing is a grave escalation with far-reaching implications for regional and global security. It underscores the adaptability of extremist groups that continue to flourish in Pakistan under insufficient domestic constraints and inconsistent international scrutiny. Without urgent and coordinated global action, this shift risks embedding militant ideology even more deeply into Pakistani society—making the fight against extremism increasingly difficult in the years ahead.
