Kerala youth ‘who joined IS’ dies in attack

A Kerala man, among the 21 people who allegedly joined Islamic State in Afghanistan, has been killed in a drone attack, family sources said on Sunday.

The mother of Hafeezuiddin, a 24-year-old man from Kasargod in north Kerala, received a text message on Saturday night that her son was dead, sources said.

“Alhamdulliah. Kabar adakki (Praise be to God, he has attained martyrdom). We are waiting for our turn… in Sha Allah (Inshallah),” read the Telegram message sent by Aqmajeed, one of the people who went missing from north Kerala in June 2016.

Telegram, an internet-based communication app like WhatsApp, is a preferred mode of communication of Islamic State. Messages sent on Telegram self-destruct after 24 hours.

“Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties: for the price theirs shall be the paradise. They fight in Allahs’ cause so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him I th Turrat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and the Quran. And who is truer to his convenient than alla (Allah)… rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success. Tauba 11,” the message read. The disappearance of the group, which included six women and three children, sent shockwaves across the country. Most of these people were educated and came from upper middle class families.

Some of them later called up their relatives and told them they had joined Islamic State.

Intelligence agencies believe the messages originated in Afghanistan and recent media reports seem to back the claim. There were reports that the group was living in a remote area of Afghanistan and had no plans to return.

The father of the two missing youth from Palakkad had said his sons were in touch with controversial Muslim preacher from Mumbai Zakir Naik. Later police arrested two persons from Mumbai including an aide of Naik. Five months back, the National Investigation Agency, which is looking into the missing case, busted an Islamic State module in Kerala.

The cell was planning a series of strikes across south India, the NIA said. IS announced its Khorasan branch -- an old name for Afghanistan and surrounding areas including parts of India -- in January 2015. It has claimed several terror strikes as it tries to expand outside the Arab world but has met with resistance and has lost several men in air raids.