
A 22-year-old youth, one of the 22 people from Kerala who travelled to Afghanistan to join Islamic State has reportedly been killed. Officials from NIA and state police have said the family of Marwin Ismail, hailing from Thrikkarippoor near Kasaragod, has received a message from another person in the 22-member group, informing that he was ‘martyred’ in the war two days ago.
Marwin is the fourth member of the group to be killed since it reached Nangarhar province in Afghanistan in June 2016. Nangarhar is an IS stronghold where the terror outfit is fighting Afghan-US forces and some Taliban groups.
An NIA source said Marwin and others travelled to Nangarhar via Tehran with the help of Abdul Rashid, who earlier worked as a senior administrator at Peace International School. The school has many branches in Kerala and follows an Islamic curriculum.
“Marwin, too, worked for Peace School briefly before he deciding to join Islamic State. He was one of the few bachelors in the group, while some had travelled with wives and children, and some with pregnant wives. Two months ago, we had information that Marwin married there,” said a state intelligence officer.
B C Abdul Rehman, an activist who often receives information from the youths in Afghanistan, said he received a message from Ashfaq Majeed, one of the youths, on Telegram that “Marwin has become a shaheed (martyr).”