Agencies: Eight IS operatives from Kerala killed in Afghanistan

Nonetheless, the NIA cases against these persons will exist till the time their death is officially confirmed by Kabul.
Representational Image
Representational Image

KOCHI: In a chilling disclosure Central agencies, including the anti-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA), revealed that at least eight persons among the 23 from Kerala believed to have reached Afghanistan to join the so-called Islamic State(IS) terror outfit are now dead.  The ‘illegal migration’ occurred from 2016.  Murshid Mohammed T K from Padanna in Kasaragod; Muhammed Marwan, Trikaripur also in the district; Hafesudheen Theke Koleth, Padanna; Muhammed Manzad, Elambachi; Shihas K P, Padanna and his wife Ajmala; and Palakkad natives Bestin and Shibi KT are those killed. 

“News of their death was conveyed to relatives by their handlers in Afghanistan. Our probe also reveals that these persons are no more. They were killed in airstrikes carried out by the US-led allied forces in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province since 2016,” sources said.

Nonetheless, the NIA cases against these persons will exist till the time their death is officially confirmed by Kabul. “We have shared information on the deceased with Afghan authorities. The case against them will not closed unless we receive hard evidence in this regard,” they said. In stark contrast, the agencies have no concrete information on the number of Malayalees who died on the frontline in war-ravaged Syria. Around 50 persons are suspected to have moved to Syria. “Most of them have been killed by now. We have information about only a few who are still in the refugee camps in Syria,” sources said.

Recently, the NIA Court here issued a Letter Rogatory -- a request sent by a court to a foreign court seeking judicial assistance --  seeking details of Nashidul Hazafar of Kalpetta who was deported from Afghanistan in 2017 following an unsuccessful bid to join the IS ranks.

The Letter Rogatory was issued on behalf of the NIA which wants to get details of the probe carried out by the Afghan agency and information on the others arrested along with Nashidul in Kabul. The anti-terror agency filed a chargesheet against Nashidul a few months ago. 

Deceased 
Murshid Mohammed T K from Padanna in Kasaragod; Muhammed Marwan, Trikaripur; Hafesudheen Theke Koleth, Padanna; Muhammed Manzad, Elambachi; Shihas K P, Padanna and his wife Ajmala; and Palakkad natives Bestin and Shibi K T are those killed. 

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