From being a Pakistani neuroscientist, Aafia Siddiqui has come to be known worldwide as “Lady al-Qaeda.” Despite her past ties to jihadi terror, she continues to receive sympathy and support from certain Pakistani politicians and human rights activists. Today, she is serving an 86-year prison sentence in a Texas jail in the United States. Siddiqui was convicted in 2010 for “attempted murder of US officials in Afghanistan.”

There was hope that she might be returned to Pakistan when Field Marshal Asim Munir visited the US for a White House dinner with President Donald Trump in April this year, just days after India defeated Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. But Munir did not raise the matter with Trump.

Earlier, in January this year, the outgoing US President Joe Biden also refused to grant her clemency. The US government informed the Islamabad High Court that Siddiqui’s clemency petition — which contained claims of new evidence along with concerns about her health — was rejected.

In September this year, the Islamabad High Court bench formed to hear Siddiqui’s case was dissolved. This happened after Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas declined to hear the petition and requested that a larger bench be formed. The petition had been filed by Siddiqui’s sister, Fauzia Siddique. Before this, a contempt notice had been issued to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet for failing to follow earlier court orders and for not submitting their response in the case.

“Lady al-Qaeda” Aafia Siddiqui: Human rights violation or Islamic terrorist?

Aafia Siddiqui is now 52 years old. She is Pakistani by birth and trained as a neuroscientist. Born in Karachi, she moved to the US in 1990 on a student visa. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from MIT and later completed a PhD in neuroscience at Brandeis University in 2001. Her mother worked as an Islamic educator and politician, while her father was a neurosurgeon.

During her years in Boston, Siddiqui volunteered with Islamic charities, including the Al-Kifah Center, which was later found to have links with al-Qaeda. After the 9/11 attacks, she openly expressed strong anti-American views and showed support for jihad.

The FBI questioned her and her then-husband, Amjad Khan, after noticing their suspicious purchases. These included night-vision goggles, manuals on explosives, body armour, and 45 military-style books such as The Anarchist’s Arsenal. Amjad Khan told investigators that he had bought these items for camping and hunting. Not long after, Aafia and her husband divorced, and she returned to Pakistan with her three children.

In March 2003, Siddiqui and her children disappeared in Karachi. At first, Pakistani authorities admitted she had been detained for questioning about alleged al-Qaeda links, but later denied involvement. In May 2004, the FBI issued a worldwide alert, naming her as one of its first female “most-wanted” terrorists, accusing her of being an al-Qaeda courier. Her movements between 2003 and 2008 remain heavily disputed. Yvonne Ridley, a journalist supportive of Siddiqui, claimed she was abducted and secretly tortured at places like Bagram Air Base. The US Department of Justice, however, insisted she had been hiding along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with the family of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the chief planner of the 9/11 attacks.

Later, she married Ammar al-Baluchi, the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Her sister Fauzia denies this marriage, but Pakistani and American intelligence, al-Baluchi’s family, and Siddiqui herself eventually confirmed it. Siddiqui admitted this during her FBI interviews.

In 2008, Afghan authorities detained her. According to the US Department of Justice, she was found carrying several items, including handwritten notes describing a mass-casualty attack. These notes mentioned U.S. landmarks such as Plum Island, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge.

On the evening of 17th July 2008, officers of the Ghazni Province Afghanistan National Police (ANP) found Siddiqui along with a teenage boy outside the Ghazni governor’s compound. They questioned her in Dari and Pashtu, but she did not reply. Since she spoke Urdu, the officers suspected she was a foreigner. When they searched her handbag, they found numerous documents on how to make explosives, chemical weapons, and weapons using biological or radiological agents. Her papers also included “descriptions of various landmarks in the United States, including in New York City.” Along with these, they found excerpts from The Anarchist’s Arsenal, a digital thumb drive, and chemical substances in gel and liquid form stored in bottles and jars.

The next day, 18th July 2008, two FBI special agents, a US Army Warrant Officer, a US Army Captain, and military interpreters came to the Afghan facility where she was being held. They did not realize she was kept unsecured behind a curtain. The Warrant Officer placed his loaded but safe M-4 rifle on the floor. Suddenly, Siddiqui appeared, grabbed the rifle, and pointed it at the Captain. A struggle followed. During this, she allegedly shouted in English: *“Get the f&k out of here” while firing the weapon.

She was shot at least once but continued to resist. Despite her injuries, she kicked and attacked the officials, shouting “Allahu Akbar” and screaming in English that she wanted to kill Americans. She allegedly said, “May the blood of [unintelligible] be directly on your [head/hands]” and “I am going to kill all you Americans.” Only after she lost consciousness were the officers able to bring the situation under control and provide her medical treatment. She was then charged with attempted murder, assault, and weapons violations.

Finally, on 23rd September 2010, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, announced that Siddiqui had been sentenced to 86 years in prison. The conviction covered attempted murder, assault on U.S. nationals, and attacks on U.S. officers and employees in Afghanistan. Judge Richard Berman found her guilty on all charges. He noted her “high intelligence” and links with al-Qaeda as aggravating factors in deciding her sentence.

She is now serving this 86-year sentence for attacking US Army and FBI personnel in Afghanistan.

Aafia Siddiqui: Antisemitic Outbursts, Terror Links, and Global Campaigns for Her Release

Interestingly, Aafia Siddiqui has been a deeply antisemitic person. Even during her trial in the United States, she repeatedly disrupted the proceedings with wild claims of a Jewish conspiracy against her. At one point, she went as far as demanding DNA tests for the jurors, saying that if any of them were from Israel or identified as “Zionists,” the trial could not be fair.

She told the judge: “If they have a Zionist or Israeli background . . . they are all mad at me. I have a feeling everyone here is them [sic] — subject to genetic testing. They should be excluded if you want to be fair.”

Over the years, her case has been taken up by Islamist groups, human rights campaigners, and even politicians, who all portray her as a victim rather than as a convicted terrorist.

In 2022, her name once again made global headlines when a Jewish synagogue in Texas was attacked by an armed Islamic terrorist. On 15th January 2022, the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, was stormed during a Sabbath morning service. The attacker, later identified as a jihadi named Akram, took several Jewish worshippers hostage, including a Rabbi. His demand was simple — he wanted Aafia Siddiqui released from prison in exchange for the hostages.

The choice of location was not accidental. The synagogue stood close to the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, where Siddiqui was imprisoned. The attack was being live-streamed as part of the Sabbath program, and authorities monitoring the feed heard Akram’s anti-American, antisemitic, and jihadist rants. The tense standoff lasted nearly 10 to 11 hours. Throughout that time, Akram kept demanding Siddiqui’s freedom. Eventually, he was fatally shot by FBI officers, and the hostages were rescued unharmed.

The FBI classified the incident as both a terrorism-related act and a hate crime motivated by antisemitism and Islamic jihadist ideology. A later investigation into Akram’s internet history showed that he had researched Siddiqui’s case, searched for gun stores, and looked for information about Rabbis in Texas.

Terrorist groups offering prisoner swaps

Even before the Colleyville attack, several global terror outfits had tried to use Siddiqui’s name in their negotiations. Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the Afghan Taliban all offered at different times to exchange American hostages for her release. In 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) offered to free two American hostages — journalist James Foley and humanitarian worker Kayla Mueller — if Siddiqui was released. The US rejected these offers. Tragically, both Foley and Mueller were later killed by ISIS.

Groups that openly vow to kill “Kafirs” often cite Siddiqui in their propaganda. They portray her as a symbol of Muslim “victimhood” and use her case to fuel their recruitment and propaganda campaigns.

Unsurprisingly, successive Pakistani governments and politicians have also called for Siddiqui’s release. In 2018, the Pakistani Senate even passed a resolution hailing her as the “Daughter of Pakistan.” This was in line with Pakistan’s long history of glorifying Islamic militants.

From former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in 2010, to PML(N) leader and ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistani leaders have lobbied American officials for Siddiqui’s release. Resolutions, political speeches, and formal requests have been repeated tactics. Just last year, a high-level delegation of Pakistani senators visited the US with the same demand.

In that same year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif even wrote to US President Joe Biden asking for Siddiqui’s release on “humanitarian grounds.” Biden refused. This dashed Pakistani hopes that she might be freed as part of diplomatic goodwill.

In July this year, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar sparked a controversy when he compared Siddiqui’s case with that of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is now jailed. Dar called both situations a matter of “due process.”

Recently, Siddiqui’s lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, claimed he has found video evidence that could challenge the prosecution’s case. He announced plans to file a fresh appeal in New York, suggesting that the video disproves key accusations against her.

Alongside legal efforts, many international Islamist and human rights organizations have kept her case alive. Groups in the US and UK — such as CAIR, Amnesty International, CAGE International, and Code Pink — continue to push for her release.

Notably, just two months before the Texas synagogue attack, CAIR International had organized events and rallies demanding her freedom. Its Texas chapter, CAIR DFW, ran multiple online and offline campaigns, raising funds for her legal fight and promoting her as a victim of injustice.

Propaganda and social media push

In 2022, a study by Rutgers University and the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) revealed a massive spike in Twitter activity supporting the “Free Aafia Movement” just ahead of the Colleyville synagogue attack. This showed how her case has become a rallying point for Islamist propaganda networks online.

Major outlets such as Al Jazeera and Crescent International have also run stories and features portraying Siddiqui as a wronged woman.

Her sister, Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui, runs the “Aafia Movement,” an international initiative to campaign for her release. Their website describes it as “an international initiative dedicated to securing justice and freedom for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani-Muslim woman currently serving an unjust 86-year sentence in U.S. federal prison.”

The website contains articles, graphics, and illustrations presenting Siddiqui as an educated Pakistani Muslim woman, a Hafiza (one who has memorized the Quran), and a rights activist supposedly victimized by the United States under the “war on terror.” Another group, The Aafia Foundation, runs similar campaigns.

Back in 2023, Fowzia Siddiqui and lawyer Clive Stafford Smith claimed that Aafia “holds no special importance for the US” and instead blamed Pakistan’s government for failing to bring her back. Smith even proposed a prisoner swap — Siddiqui for Shakeel Afridi, the Pakistani doctor jailed for allegedly helping the US locate Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad in 2012. The Pakistani government, however, showed no interest in the idea.

Today, the Aafia Movement uses social media, interviews, seminars, documentary screenings, awareness tours, fundraising drives, and other campaigns to build pressure for Siddiqui’s release. Islamist groups, Islamist advocacy organizations, and even certain human rights outfits continue to call her imprisonment a “miscarriage” and a “travesty of justice.”

They push narratives of “Muslim victimhood” and “Islamophobia” while ignoring Siddiqui’s proven terrorist links and violent past. Meanwhile, Siddiqui’s family continues to deny any connection between her and al-Qaeda or other extremist groups.