In a rare and alarming shift in South Asian militancy, Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has formed its first all-women terror unit, led by Sadiya Azhar, the sister of JeM founder Masood Azhar. The development marks a strategic transformation in the group’s operations after sustained counterterror pressure from Indian and international agencies.
According to intelligence inputs, the women’s unit is headquartered in Bahawalpur, Punjab province of Pakistan, JeM’s long-standing stronghold. Sources suggest that 20-25 women have been trained in basic arms handling, explosives, and surveillance techniques. The unit’s immediate objective appears to be logistical support, intelligence relay, and recruitment through social media, though experts warn it could evolve into a combat wing in the near future.
Sadiya’s husband, a senior JeM operative, was killed during Operation Sindoor; a joint counterterror mission by Indian forces targeting infiltration routes across the Line of Control (LoC). Her appointment is viewed by analysts as both a symbolic act of revenge and a propaganda tool to project women’s participation as a form of “religious resistance.”
Indian security agencies have since heightened border monitoring and digital interception across Jammu and Kashmir. Officials describe the move as a “tactical diversification” by JeM blending ideology with subterfuge signalling that the battlefront of terrorism in South Asia is entering a more complex and unpredictable phase.
