Kashmiri IS terrorist’s family seeks help to bring him back

SRINAGAR: Aadil Ahmad Wada, the Kashmiri youth believed to have joined ISIS, is reportedly in the custody of US-led forces in Syria after hundreds of fighters surrendered in March this year

Wada is believed to have informed his family — based in the Jawahar Nagar locality of Srinagar — about the development through an audio message on March 25. The family has since approached Jammu & Kashmir Police and other agencies seeking help to bring their son back. They have also sought an appointment with Governor Satya Pal Malik. The authorities have reportedly informed the family that the process would be started after a new government assumes office in New Delhi.

Wada apparently informed his family that he along with over 1,500 ISIS fighters and their families were intercepted and captured by US-led forces around March in Syria.

Wada, who has an MBA from Queensland University in Australia, is believed to have joined ISIS in 2013, when he allegedly misinformed his family that he got a job in an NGO in Turkey, after struggling to find one in Australia, Qatar and Dubai.

“They were surrounded by the US forces and asked to surrender. Then they performed Istikhara (a prayer recited by Muslims when in need of guidance in life) and decided to surrender along with their weaponry as many women and children were part of this large group,” Fayaz Ahmad Wada, father of Aadil, who was in touch with him till March 25, told ET.

Days later following another attack they lost touch with their son, Wada added.

Wada told his family that the US forces promised them that they will be sent to their respective families if they surrendered. “Aadil’s five-year old son died before they were captured. They couldn’t get enough food for him to survive during this journey. He had probably suffered extreme suffocation,” said Wada’s father. Wada had married a Dutch national in Syria, who was also in touch with this family.

“We were in touch with him but they have now been kept in a prison, probably at a US base in Syria. Women and children are in a separate refugee camp. His wife is also in the refugee camp and he was pleading to convey his messages to her if she manages to get in touch with the family,” Wada’s father said.