Militants using social media to radicalise Baloch women: Minister Lanjar

WEB DESK: Sindh Interior Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar has warned that anti-state elements are using social media to contact and radicalise women and girls in Balochistan, grooming them for involvement in terrorist activities.

Speaking about a recent security operation, Lanjar said hostile groups deliberately target vulnerable women, subject them to ideological indoctrination and gradually draw them into closed social media groups. “After systematic brainwashing, these women are added to online groups where they are prepared for violent acts,” he said.

He revealed that a young girl brought from Balochistan had been trained in Karachi for terrorist operations, including a planned suicide attack. Acting on intelligence, law enforcement agencies intercepted the girl during a routine checkpoint operation and took her into protective custody.

“The enemy is even trying to use children against the state,” Lanjar said, adding that the girl’s father had passed away and the family survived on a pension, making her more vulnerable to exploitation. He stressed that the state would ensure the girl’s dignity, protection and future.

Providing further details, Additional Inspector General of Police for the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Muhammad Azad, said the girl was initially exposed to hate-filled and extremist material online. He confirmed that an agent linked to the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) had contacted her and later added her to a WhatsApp group to continue the radicalisation process.

According to the CTD, the girl was being psychologically conditioned for a suicide bombing in Karachi when the operation was disrupted.

In her statement, the affected girl said police stopped her at a checkpoint during an operation and questioned her, which ultimately led to her rescue. She said she had repeatedly been shown hateful material and was told during indoctrination that she was heading towards destruction.

“Sacrificing women and girls is not Baloch culture,” she said, adding that she was being prepared for a suicide attack and made to believe that giving her life was the ultimate goal.

The girl said she had decided to leave home without fully understanding what she was doing. She recalled that in Winder, a woman had put her on a bus to Karachi as part of the plan.

“I am grateful to the institutions for saving my life,” she said.

Authorities said investigations were continuing, while reaffirming the government’s commitment to protecting vulnerable individuals and countering efforts by militant groups to exploit women and children for terrorism.