Generative AI (GenAI) lowers the cost, time, and technical skill required to produce extremist propaganda. This paper examines how terrorist organizations in South Asia, most prominently Al Qaeda and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), leverage GenAI across their media and operational workflows.
On October 8, 2025, Maulana Masood Azhar—leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Pakistan and a UN-designated terrorist—announced the creation of a women’s wing called Jamaat-ul-Muminat (JuM), or “Organization of Female Believers.” The announcement was made from the group’s headquarters at Masjid Usman-o-Ali in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
The trajectory of jihadist activity in India is shifting. High-impact attacks, such as the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam assault in Jammu and Kashmir attributed to Lashkar-e-Taiba/The Resistance Front, and the November 2025 suicide bombing near Delhi’s Red Fort linked to a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) affiliated “Doctors network”, still mark the threat landscape. However, early 2026 indicates a change in direction. The pattern is moving from episodic, high-visibility violence to sustained, low-level radicalization within digital and local networks.
Bangladesh’s most lethal home-grown militant organization, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)—which has multiple ideological and operational factions, including the Islamic State (IS)-inspired neo-JMB and al-Qaeda linked core Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JM)—has gained notoriety over the last few years for recruiting and nurturing a network of women militants. Despite robust counter-terrorism operations following the July 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery attacks in the capital Dhaka, an alarming number of women are taking up the cause of militancy.
The Maldivian government has engaged in an effort to restrain radicalized youths from joining jihadists groups in Syria and Iraq. Despite these efforts, the total number of Maldivians fighting in the Syrian civil war has reached 61. According to the island nation’s National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), over 68 people have been intercepted and captured on their way to Syria and Iraq (Raajje News, January 15).