Jaish-e-Mohammed Forms Women’s Wing Under Guise of Islamic Reform Movement: Intelligence Sources

New Delhi: Top intelligence sources have revealed to CNN-News18 that Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is actively building a sophisticated women’s network operating under the cover of an Islamic reform initiative called Jamaat al-Mu’minaat — meaning “Community of Believing Women.”

According to the sources, this newly-formed women’s wing is part of JeM’s evolving strategy to intensify psychological warfare and grassroots recruitment, targeting women in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and several southern Indian states. The network reportedly functions through encrypted online platforms, masked as spiritual and moral guidance communities.

Propaganda Framed in Religious Rhetoric

The outreach campaign, intelligence officials said, is carefully crafted with devotional language. A recent circular issued by JeM features imagery of the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, coupled with Quranic verses — a design meant to lend divine legitimacy to the group’s ideological message.

The document presents JeM’s radical narrative in the guise of moral purification and religious devotion, subtly targeting educated, urban Muslim women. Officials believe this marks the first phase of indoctrination, intended to gradually transition participants from religious study to political radicalisation and jihadist indoctrination.

Organisational Structure and Role of the Women’s Network

The repeated references to Jamaat al-Mu’minaat across JeM’s internal communications indicate a cell-based, vertical command structure, mirroring the group’s existing operational hierarchy. Within this system, women are being trained to act as recruiters, fundraisers, and message couriers, supporting male operatives while remaining insulated from direct counter-terror scrutiny.

The move represents JeM’s post-2024 strategic shift — leveraging social media networks and madrasa circuits in Pakistan’s Punjab province and parts of Kashmir to extend its ideological reach covertly.

Religious Cover for Terror Financing

Intelligence sources have also noted that the group’s materials invoke concepts such as “spiritual obligation” and “collective religious duty” — rhetoric reminiscent of early women’s jihadist movements used by other global terror outfits to justify female participation in logistical and cyber operations.

The mention of specific dates, including 13th Rabi-ul-Thani (October 8, 2025), is believed to correspond to planned markaz-level gatherings. These so-called religious meetings reportedly serve as fronts for hawala transactions and donation-based funding, funneled through religious NGOs and madrasa networks under the pretext of islah-e-ummah (reform of the community).

Cross-Border Design and Strategic Intent

Investigators say the stylistic elements and theological tone of the Jamaat al-Mu’minaat pamphlets closely resemble publications from Al-Muhajirat, JeM’s known female cadre initiative, and the Markaz Usman-o-Ali centre in Bahawalpur. This alignment, they assert, confirms a cross-border coordination effort and the sophisticated design of the recruitment drive.

JeM’s female units, the sources added, are being strategically positioned for information warfare — conducting online dawa (religious preaching), spreading misinformation, and facilitating financial operations vital to sustaining the organisation’s global terror network.

“This is not just a recruitment push; it’s a long-term psychological and financial warfare strategy masked as religious reform,” one senior intelligence official said.