Another ‘IS militant’ from Kerala killed in US bombing

Kasargode (Kerala) April 14 (IANS) An alleged Islamic State (IS) activist from Kerala, Murshid Mohammed, is believed to have been killed by the "Mother of all bombs" dropped by the US in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province on Thursday, the intelligence wing of Kerala Police said on Friday.

However, neither the police nor the relatives of the youth have been able to confirm whether Mohammed was among the 36 IS militants killed after the US military struck the terror group’s position in eastern Afghanistan with a massive 10-tonne missile-powered bomb.

The bomb — dropped on an IS cave complex in Achin district of Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan — is claimed to be the biggest-ever non-nuclear bomb.

Speaking to IANS, a top intelligence officer in Kasargode said that around Thursday midnight they got information of Mohammed, a youth in his mid 20s, being killed in the US military assault.

"The information of the death came to a relative of Mohammed and unlike a similar news received in February about the death of another youth from here, this time there are no pictures (to establish the death)," the officer said.

"We do not have any more details," added the officer, who did not wish to be identified.

In February, 26-year-old Hafeesudin, who also hailed from here and was member of a group of 21 Keralites who were reported to have joined the IS in Afghanistan, was killed in a drone attack.

Then the relatives of the dead were sent pictures, but this time the relative of Mohammed received only a message that he was killed, according to the Kerala Police’s intelligence wing.

An official attached to the Chandera police station near here, where the message was received, said they also had the information that Mohammed had died.

"Since the probe in this case is done by the NIA (National Intelligence Agency), we do not have any more details," said the police officer.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had last year informed the state assembly that 21 people, including children, were missing and this included 17 from Kasargode district and four from Palakkad district.