Al-Qaeda’s use of women reveals fear, hypocrisy

Analysts say that in recent years, intensified counter-terrorism pressure has pushed al-Qaeda to use women in covert roles, an act they argue exposes the group’s fear, weakness, and desperation.

Al-Qaeda exploits women because women are usually inspected less thoroughly, a gap the group uses to move messages and information undetected, said Muhammad Nasim Muradi, a security analyst at the French Center for Peace Studies.

"This instrumental use of women not only shows the cowardice, crisis, weakness, and deep fear of al-Qaeda members who hide behind women, but it also reveals how vulnerable this group has become under security pressure, forcing it to adopt inhumane and covert tactics for its survival," he told Salaam Times.

Muradi said that al-Qaeda’s communications were once male-dominated and easily traced, but growing military and intelligence pressure forced the group toward less visible methods.

"Even its own members know the space around them is tightening," he said. "They are being pursued, and sooner or later they will be arrested and prosecuted."

Political analyst Muhammad Sarwar Nemati, based in Ankara, said global intelligence services have blocked many of the group’s traditional communication routes and tracked several of its leaders.

This has left al-Qaeda members aware that "even their smallest movements can be tracked," he said.

"Al-Qaeda members know well that the security noose tightens around them every day, which is why they are exploiting women. In many regions, the leaders and operatives of this network are identified, arrested, or eliminated one after another."

Nemati said that groups with real strength do not hide behind women and children, and only those "that know their survival is at risk" resort to such tactics.

A tactic driven by weakness

Women’s rights activist Hafiza Mahmoudi said such exploitation is a clear example of organized gender-based violence.

She said extremist groups claim to defend women’s honor, yet "in practice they show they have no regard for women’s dignity, safety, or choice."

Mahmoudi stressed the need for greater awareness because many women used by al-Qaeda do not even know they are participating in dangerous activities.

Deception, manipulation, and abuse of trust mean these women are "victims, not accomplices," she said.

Kabul-based psychologist Obaidullah Rahyab said long-term exposure to coercion, threats, and ideological indoctrination weakens a person’s psychological resistance, making them easier to exploit.

"Women who fall victim to terrorist networks often show no signs of violent tendencies," he said. Instead, they are drawn in through "psychological pressure, emotional dependence, or ideological manipulation."

This exploitation leaves deep trauma, damages identity, and destroys confidence, he said.