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http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373351

TERRORISM MONITOR
“Dressed in Black: A Look at Pakistan’s Radical Women”
By Farhana Ali

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Radical women in Pakistan are increasingly being used by male jihadi groups and extremists, including religious political parties, to serve their interests and promote their cause.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The Birth of Female Jihadi Groups

The “Talibanization” of women in Pakistan occurred years ago. During the Afghan jihad, while men fought on the battlefield, women played key roles as mothers, daughters and wives of male jihadis. Traditionally, they provided logistics and facilitation support to their men. Articles by and for women during and after the Afghan war against the Soviets figured prominently in jihadi magazines published in Peshawar. In one editorial, a woman indicated, “We stand shoulder to shoulder with our men, supporting them, helping them…We educate their sons and we prepare ourselves…We march in the path of jihad for the sake of Allah, and our goal is Shahada [martyrdom].” Like the women supporting the Afghan jihad, the Jamia Hafsa women indicated their right to conduct suicide attacks against “those who are against Islam. We are oppressed and an oppressed community has the right to register its protest” (Daily Times, February 2).

Muslim women fighting alongside Muslim men in other conflicts in the Islamic world also share the same spirit of jihad. They include Palestinian, Chechen, European Muslim converts and the women of al-Qaeda [3]. In most cases, participation in violent acts is partly the result of the women’s shared sense of identity with the cause as well as their familial connection to the male jihadis [4].”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Radicalization of Women

The emerging trend of women being motivated by men to chant slogans of jihad can also be traced to female-only dars (religious gatherings) across Pakistan and is evident in women’s right-wing publications.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Time to Act

The fact that male jihadis could drive these women to become tomorrow’s suicide bombers has serious implications for the war on terrorism and the region’s security. It is unclear if Pakistan’s extremist women would conduct suicide attacks. The former information minister told the author, “I do not think these girls can be suicide bombers; they are timid and lack historical perspective like that of the Palestinians. However, I cannot predict the future.” Regardless of their operational capability, Pakistan’s radical women pose a threat to civil society, law and order and the forces of moderate and liberal Islam that have permeated Pakistan since its independence. Absent an immediate solution to the Jamia Hafsa crisis—and the images of women in black—the government of Pakistan will be viewed with skepticism by the international community and some might judge the country too harshly as an unwilling partner in the war on terrorism. Such perceptions, while falsely construed, can be damaging to U.S.-Pakistan relations and could further the opposition’s view that Pakistan is allied with firebrand clerics and jihadi groups.”