Abu Khalid Al-Hindi, Terrorist Responsible For Kabul Gurdwara Attack Was IS Recruit From Kerala

The Islamic State has released a photo of a man whom the terror group named as Abu Khalid al-Hindi, a suicide attack fighter who was part of the four-member team that attacked a Sikh shrine in Kabul, killing at least 25 members of the community on Wednesday.?

But according to Indian Intelligence Agencies, the man in the photo was Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal, a native of Kerala's northern district of Kasargod.Sajid was one of the 16 people in what has be called the ISIS Kasaragod Module, which first surfaced in 2016 after more than a dozen youths from Kerala joined ISIS in Syria and Afghanistan.?

"IS had released the name Abu Khalid al-Hindi through its media agency soon after the attack. The photograph of him holding a rifle was also published by IS in their propaganda magazine Al Naba. From that, we have identified the person as Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal. We are investigating the matter and in touch with the investigating agencies in Afghanistan for tracking his trail," an Intelligence official said.??

Sajid used to run a grocery shop in his hometown in Padne before he and others left the country to join the terror group.Earlier there were some reports that Abu Khalid al-Hindi was Muhammed Muhasin, a youth from Kerala's Malappuram District. However, the former engineering student was killed in a US drone strike in the Khorasan province of Afghanistan last year.?

So far around 8 of the Islamic State recruits from Kerala including Sajid, Muhasin, Saifuddin have been killed in Afghanistan.The only two people from the group who are confirmed to be alive are the two female terrorists - Ayesha alias Sonia Sebastian and Fathima alias Nimisha who had joined ISIS with their husbands.A few weeks back a video of the two had surfaced, which showed them in detention in Afghanistan.?

Both Ayesha and Fathima who were interviewed in the video confirmed that their husbands have been killed. In the video, Ayesha said what they experienced was contrary to her expectations and that her husband was disappointed with the IS towards the end of his life.The two unrepentant terrorists said they wanted to come back to India, and while Ayesha wanted to live with her husband's family, Fathima said she wanted to live in a place that is governed by Sharia.?

The ISIS module in Kerala had also triggered the Love Jihad claims, after the Catholic church in the state claimed that among the 21 who went to ISIS half of them were Christian converts and alleged that love jihad is being used to recruit people for terrorist activities.