London, July 12 (IANS) A group of burqa-clad women wielding AK-47 assault rifles and linked to the Al Qaeda has been seen in Somalia, a media report said Monday.
The female fanatics hid under traditional Muslim dress to be paraded for the first time at an extremist rally in the capital Mogadishu, The Sun reported.
They displayed their gun skills to a mob, demanding the withdrawal of foreign peacekeepers in the shattered African state, the report said.
The women have been drafted in to one of the most hardline terror networks, al-Shabaab, or Youth of the Mujahideen. It is linked to suicide bombings and murders of dozens of aid workers.
"The recruitment of these women shows how ruthless the terrorists are prepared to be," a British intelligence source said.