KASARGOD/KOZHIKODE: Asfaq Majeed, one among the 21-member group from Kerala that joined the Islamic State (IS) in recent months, reportedly sent a message to one of his family members on Thursday stating that “all the members in the group were happy in taking up the mission to fight and were sad for missing the opportunity to become first martyr like Hafeesudeen T K”.
The new message is believed to have been sent to assure the family members back home that only 24-year-old Hafeesudeen had died in the intense combat operation launched by Afghan and US forces in various parts of Afghanistan against IS militants.
In a message sent on Telegram, Asfaq said, "We came to fight for the sake of Allah. We are sad because we could become a martyr (shaheed)." He added that Sajid, another member in the group who was reported dead by a few local media in Kasargod, was still alive. Asfaq had also sent a photo of Rasheed, who was among the group that left for Syria.
Hafeesudeen, a native of Padna in Kasargod, had left his new bride behind to join IS as part of a mission to serve the ‘Caliphate’.
It was Asfaq who informed Hafeesudeen's mother about her son's death on Sunday. The message also said Hafeesudeen's body was buried in Afghanistan. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was trying to track the details of the group after intelligence agencies confirmed that the group which left from Kerala to Syria was camping somewhere in Afghanistan. Already efforts are on through Interpol and the Afghan government to trace the group, which according to reports had settled in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar.