PADNA (Kasargod): One of the 20 men from Kerala who joined the Islamic State (IS) in recent months has been killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan, the man’s family said citing a message received from the group.
Hafeesudeen T K (24), a native of Padna in Kasargod, left his new bride behind and moved to what he called the ‘Caliphate’.
One of his cousins said Hafeesudeen's mother got a message from Asfaq Majeed (25), one of the fugitive group members, stating that the Kasargod native was killed in an airstrike Saturday.
"We got the message today (Sunday) morning but we are not able to get in touch with them for more information," he said. The message said Hafeesudeen has already been buried in Afghanistan, the cousin said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) confirmed that it received information from the parents of a Kasargod native about a message claiming their son had been killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan.
But NIA sources said the agency would consult Interpol and the Afghan government through the diplomatic channel to confirm the information.
Though Hafeesudeen’s family sources said they do not know the location of the incident, reports said the Islamic State recruits from Kerala were settled in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, where the IS is trying to expand its insurgency.
On Saturday, news wire reports said Afghan and US forces conducted a joint operation in Haska Mina district of Nangarhar and killed six IS leaders and 41 militants.
Hafeesudeen's father Abdul Hakeem, an entrepreneur who runs automobile and hotel businesses in the UAE, disowned him after the young man sent a message from a hideout saying he had joined the IS.
Last March, he married a Malayali woman born and brought up in Saudi Arabia. Though all the married men in the group that joined the IS took their wives and children along, Hafeesudeen's wife refused to join him and is in Saudi Arabia.
Hafeesudeen used to frequently sent messages to his family and father urging them to sell off the businesses and join him in the ‘Caliphate’ to lead austere lives.
One message Hafeesudeen sent soon after reaching the IS-controlled land read: “There are war planes of kuffar America over our head 24/7 and drones killing mujahideen on a weekly or monthly basis. But alhamdulillah, I am happy to be here and all I need is Allah's pleasure."
Hafeesudeen, the youngest of Hakeem’s four children, would have turned 24 on April 4. He grew up in Dubai but when he got into “teen troubles”, his father sent him to Mumbai for higher education.