A looming challenge: Women in Pakistan’s terrorism landscape
A looming challenge: women in Pakistan’s terrorism landscape
WRITTEN BY DR AMIRA JADOON AND IQRAA BUKHARI
14 August 2023
While Pakistani women are often cast as victims of terrorism and political violence, security incidents in the country over the past decades underscore the reality that women can also be active perpetrators of such violence. Incidents dating back to 2007, such as the standoff by female members of Jamia Hafsa and more recent reports of women’s direct involvement in terrorist attacks, exemplify this. Women’s engagement with political violence and terrorism in Pakistan has evolved notably over the past two decades, with women assuming a wider range of roles.
2022 and 2023 have been particularly notable in this regard. In March 2022, the Counterterrorism Department (CTD) arrested three individuals including a woman allegedly linked to the attack on the Pakistan Air Force in Badaber in 2015. In April, Shari Baloch, a mother of two, conducted a suicide attack at the University of Karachi's (KU) Confucius Institute, killing four individuals including three Chinese nationals. The following month, a raid conducted in Balochistan's Turbat region resulted in the arrest of another woman. The CTD claimed that the woman, Noor Jahan Baloch, was connected to the Baloch Liberation Army’s (BLA) Majeed Brigade group and planning a suicide attack. Unfortunately, in June 2023, the BLA struck again with another female suicide attacker, targeting paramilitary troops in Balochistan. The BLA, however, is not the only organisation to recruit and engage women. In 2023 alone, the Taliban (TTP) released two magazines targeting female supporters, in addition to other releases in prior years. The latest magazine emphasises the significance of women as pillars of support for their husbands, sons, and brothers who are actively involved in waging jihad.
Gender, political violence, and terrorism
It is imperative that such developments are not dismissed as isolated incidents, but instead used to evaluate the Pakistani state’s capability to grapple with the possibility of an expanded presence of women in terrorism. In Pakistan, the recruitment of women is likely to deliver specific advantages to anti-state groups such as the TTP, BLA, and the Islamic State. It can allow them to evade security measures, expand the scope of their targets, and incorporate an element of surprise into their attacks due to the unexpected profile of the perpetrator. The use of female recruits can be especially appealing to such groups since they often garner high levels of publicity and can be particularly deadly in societies where women’s participation in public life is limited.
A shift towards utilising female fighters for pragmatic reasons would not be without precedent, as evidenced in case studies of Boko Haram or Islamic State affiliates in Southeast Asia. Pakistan, in particular, presents a largely “untapped female operative market”.
The significance of women's contributions and involvement within militant movements is often underappreciated or overlooked, primarily due to deeply ingrained societal stereotypes. This argument is relevant to countries like Pakistan where women’s involvement with political violence outside traditional support roles can be seen as gender atypical. The repercussion is that women actively engaged within violent armed groups “fall through the cracks”, resulting in gender-blind counterterrorism and other preventative efforts.
In Pakistan, women’s participation in terrorism has primarily been viewed as an “anomaly” since it was a rarity for Pakistani women to assume active roles within terror groups before the early 2000s. For example, during the Afghan jihad of the 1980s, women provided logistical help and facilitation to male militants as mothers, daughters, and wives, while biographies of slain Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) members highlight the importance of recruits’ mothers in motivating their sons to wage jihad. In other words, LeT has mobilised women in their roles as mothers to create emotionally charged narratives to justify the organisation’s mission and increase the number of recruits ready to embrace “martyrdom”.
From the margins to the forefront?
More than two decades after 9/11, the operational environments and internal dynamics of militant groups have evolved which can indirectly influence recruitment patterns. Some of these changes are associated with the arrival of new actors like the Islamic State Khorasan, which has heightened inter-group competition and rivalries in the region; the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan that has emboldened groups like the TTP; and a revival of the Baloch insurgency in recent years. The increasingly complex militancy landscape has ushered in changes in groups' recruitment strategies, including toward women. Women are no longer limited to the sidelines of terror operations but are increasingly supporting operations by facilitating recruitment, fundraising, disseminating propaganda, and — more recently — serving as suicide attackers.
In a 2013 attack claimed by the sectarian Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, one of the perpetrators was a female suicide bomber who targeted a bus carrying students of Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University according to reports by intelligence officials. In July 2019, the TTP claimed an attack in Dera Ismail Khan, which allegedly included a female suicide attacker. The TTP, under Mullah Fazlullah’s leadership, also actively generated a women’s support base through regular radio broadcasts in the Swat region. Another example includes the Islamic State's Bushra Network uncovered in 2015, which was allegedly recruiting and relocating individuals to the Middle East. While this is not to insinuate that women in Pakistan are fighting alongside their male counterparts in clashes with the state, the fact that they have assumed a wide range of roles — from propagandists, recruiters, fundraisers, to suicide bombers — clearly indicates shifting norms and trends in the relationship between women and militant groups.
However, the question remains whether Pakistan-based militant organisations are likely to increase the deployment of women in martyrdom operations in the future. This is not entirely unfathomable as groups that are intent on destabilising an embattled government or gaining a competitive edge over rival factions could very well turn to exploit the strategic advantages that female attackers present. A shift towards utilising female fighters for pragmatic reasons would not be without precedent, as evidenced in case studies of Boko Haram or Islamic State affiliates in Southeast Asia. Pakistan, in particular, presents a largely “untapped female operative market”.
The TTP is one example of a group trying to appeal to this demographic for several years. Its latest magazine, published in July 2023, goes beyond traditional extremist narratives, providing detailed commentary on the preferred societal and domestic roles of women while disparaging women who challenge traditional gender roles or demand equal rights to men. For instance, one article criticises women’s calls for equal rights and their reluctance to be deferential to their parents and husbands. Interestingly, the TTP’s anti-feminist narratives are reminiscent of those propagated by some Western extreme right-wing groups that incorporate misogynistic themes into their ideological narratives to draw in recruits. Drawing on anti-feminist themes, women's traditional roles as mothers and wives are framed as a mechanism to counter the threat posed by “liberals” in society. And while the magazine mainly focuses on defining the role of ‘good women’, more subtle messages seem to suggest that women should be prepared for violent jihad. For example, one of the articles directly calls upon women to “rise up and migrate to the lands of jihad”.
Tracking the threat
Overall, the role of women in Pakistan's militant organisations has undergone a notable shift, marked by their increasing involvement in various operational roles. Despite societal norms that traditionally relegate women to fringe roles, these developments demonstrate a change in the operational dynamics of militant groups. Organisations motivated by religion, such as the TTP, may still restrict women to non-combat roles, at least in the short term. However, ethnonational movements like the BLA appear more inclined to employ women as attackers, capitalising on strategic and tactical advantages. For these groups, engaging women offers additional benefits, such as strengthening their bonds with civilian communities and amplifying the credibility of their extreme ideologies and objectives.
Within this evolving context, adhering to gendered stereotypes in counterterrorism measures could be detrimental to mitigation and prevention strategies regarding terrorism and violent extremism in Pakistan. To maintain an upper hand against this threat, Pakistan's counterterrorism framework could substantially benefit from a more conscious incorporation of gender when addressing terrorist operational tactics. A broad spectrum of stakeholders, including governmental and non-governmental entities, can utilise a more gender-focused understanding of women's involvement in political violence. This approach will allow for developing suitable responses, which identify the circumstances that increase women’s likelihood of recruitment and explore the ramifications of their heightened and diversified participation. Additionally, the Pakistani state must integrate more women into intelligence, law enforcement, and other counterterrorism efforts to address substantial security loopholes that could be exploited due to gender blindness.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.
Author biography
Dr Amira Jadoon is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Clemson University, United States.
Iqraa Bukhari is PhD student at University of Exeter, United Kingdom. Image credit: Flickr/Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion (IMTFI).