Qaeda ‘Burkha Brigade’ to hit Western targets

Al-Qaeda has formed an all-female 'Burkha Brigade' whose cadres are being trained to infiltrate and hit military bases and official buildings in the Western nations as they are less likely to attract suspicion than men.

A film posted by fanatics online shows the all-female unit of al-Qaeda using a fearsome array of weapons, including machine-guns, grenade rocket launchers and sniper rifles during their training session at an unknown place.

The women are thought to have been recruited from the war-torn Russian republic of Chechnya by an al-Qaeda-linked group, with bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, British tabloid The Sun reported on Sunday.

The film posted online carries the symbol of 'Islam Awazi' or 'Voice of Islam, an al-Qaeda-linked terror group based in Russia's Caucus region.

The report has raised concerns among authorities and experts who say the global terror network has formed such units as women are less likely to attract suspicion than men and can easily infiltrate the security barriers.

In recent months, cases of female suicide attackers successfully hitting targets have emerged in different countries. Such bombers generally hide the explosives beneath their abaya — a woman's black cloak worn from head to toe.

Several women terrorists have been arrested in the West that including America's Colleen LaRose alias Jihad Jane and Germany's Filiz Gelowicz.

Blast from the past

In September, a female suicide bomber in Afghanistan rammed an explosive-laden car into a mini-bus carrying foreign aviation workers to the airport in the Afghan capital Kabul, killing at least 12 people, including eight South Africans.

In August, a 30-year-old Russian actress who converted to Islam killed Dagestan's top Muslim spiritual leader Sheikh Said Afandi and six others in a suicide attack.

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