NEW DELHI/KOCHI: Former dentist from Kerala, Ijas Kallukettiya Purayil, is reportedly among the suicide bombers killed during a deadly attack on a prison in Jalalabad in Afghanistan on Sunday, which left 29 people dead and several others injured.
According to sources, Ijas’ wife Rafilla and his 5-year-old son Ayaan are currently in the custody of Afghan officials. While there has been no official confirmation from the Ministry of External Affairs, sources said the confirmation of identity in such cases would be done only after matching the DNA samples.
“This could take time as currently there are no flights between the two countries due to the coronavirus pandemic,” they said.Sources also said that the information of Ijas’ death was conveyed to the family after social media posts regarding the attack were made viral by the terrorist organisation.
On Sunday night, terrorists belonging to the Islamic State launched an assault on the Jalalabad prison complex, in a bid to free hundreds of Islamic State and Taliban prisoners.With this, the number of Keralites killed in Afghanistan and Syria fighting for ISIS has touched 14.
In March, a 21-year-old school dropout from the state Muhammad Muhsin was killed during an attack on a gurudwara in Kabul, which claimed 27 lives.Ijaz was among the first batch of 21 persons who left their homes in Kasaragod and Palakkad districts in Kerala to join the Islamic State in May 2016.
A native of Padna in Kasaragod, Ijas was a government doctor when he chose to leave home with his wife and son. They were accompanied by his brother Shihaz Rahman, his wife Ajmala. They flew to the UAE, from where they entered Iran and then Afghanistan.
IjaS was in first batch to join I.S.
Ijas Kallukettiya Purayil, 36, was among the first batch of 21 persons who left their homes in Kasaragod and Palakkad districts to join the IS in May, 2016
The Padna native was a government dentist in Vadakara when he chose to quit and leave home with his wife Rafilla (then 25 years) and son Ayaan, 2
In one of the messages Rafilla sent to her relatives in Nileshwar, she said Ijaz ran a clinic there and did not have to take up arms