ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday released the first edition of a magazine for women, apparently aiming to convince its target readership to join the militant group and take up jihad.

The first edition of Sunnat-i-Khaula — which translates as ‘The Way of Khaula’, referring to an early female follower of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) — published by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) features a picture of a woman veiled from head to toe on its front cover.

Inside is an interview with the TTP’s leader’s wife, who is not named, in which she talks about being married to the head of the militant group, Fazlullah Khorasani, at the age of 14.

“I ask you why now everywhere there is hue and cry about underage marriages ... We have to understand that mature boys and girls if left unmarried for too long can become a source of moral destruction of the society,” the militant leader’s wife tells the interviewer.

“We want to provoke women of Islam to come forward and join the ranks of mujahideen-e-Islam,” reads the opening editorial of the magazine, which includes an advice column for would-be lady jihadists.

The English-language magazine also includes an article written by a Pakistani female doctor describing her decision to shun her western education and embrace Islam, titled “My journey from ignorance to guidance”.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2017