A Kerala man who was long suspected to have joined the Islamic State in Afghanistan is reportedly killed in a recent US drone attack. His family has been communicated about his death through Whatsapp from an unknown number based out of Afghanistan.
Identified as Muhammed Muhasin, the resident of Edappal in Malappuram district was an engineering student who had gone missing since October 2017. According to the sources, Muhasin died along with Huzaifa al-Bakistani, a vital commander of ISIS in Khorasan province of Afghanistan. Bakistani was a highly trained terrorist who is accused of radicalising many Indian youths.
Police sources claim Muhasin’s family got a message on WhatsApp on Tuesday, communicating them about his death. The message which was sent in Malayalam said, “Your brother has been seeking martyrdom and Allah has granted his wish. He has become a martyr 10 days back,’’ referring to the US drone attack on July 18.
The Whatsapp message further read, “Please don’t inform police about this development or they will start coming to your home and continue to pester you. Your brother wouldn’t want this.”
Gradually, the state of Kerala has become a fertile hotbed for recruiting youths for Islamic terrorist organisations. A raft of people from the Southern state of Kerala has joined the ISIS ranks. According to the sources, both men and women are fighting for the terrorist organisation in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries where it operates. Kannur tops the list of cities and towns from where a majority of people in the state have fled to join the terrorist organisation.
As per data from the last few years, approximately 98 people have joined the Islamic State from Kerala. Out of these 98, 38 are believed to have been killed while 60 are still alive fighting for the organisation. As of June 15, 40 including 8 women from Kannur are part of the ISIS. Apart from Kannur, radicalised youths from Kasaragod, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur have shunned their towns and fled to the middle-east to wage their jihad under the flag of ISIS. According to the intel, pro-ISIS Malayali groups operate from the gulf countries and they specifically target Muslims of Kerala.
The NIA has been investigating several cases of radicalisation and ISIS recruitment undergoing in Kerala. Last year, a female ISIS recruiter named Yasmeen was sentenced to 7-years jail by an NIA court. Yasmeen and her friend Abdul Rashid had been operating in Kerala’s Kasargod district to radicalised people and send them to fight for ISIS.
