Kerala's ISIS Leader Who Was Actively Spreading Hatred Online Reportedly Killed In Afghanistan

Rashid Abdulla, leader of the Kerala module of Islamic State group, is believed to have been killed in Afghanistan more than a month ago. A message sent by an unidentified IS operative from Khorasan province of Afghanistan through Telegram app says that Abdulla was killed in ¡®random bombing¡¯ by US forces.

¡°Total three Indian brothers, two Indian ladies and four kids got killed,¡± said the message accessed by TOI.

The message was a reply to a query as to what happened to Abdulla, who was very active on social media in spreading IS ideology. The Telegram account of Abdulla, who belonged to Kasaragod district of Kerala, was silent for more than two months. ¡°He is no more¡± was the terse reply given by the IS cadre, who didn¡¯t identify himself.

Abdulla was the leader of the 21 people from Kerala who migrated to the IS stronghold in Afghanistan in May-June 2016 along with his wife Ayesha alias Sonia was also in the group that travelled from India via UAE and Tehran to reach Afghanistan.

An employee of Peace International School set up by Salafi preacher MM Akbar, Abdulla was drawn towards IS ideology around 2014. An engineering graduate, Abdulla was the head of the department of ¡®Other Cognitive Area¡¯ at the school. His associates at the Peace School had stated that Abdulla was indoctrinated mainly through IS propaganda material available on the internet.

After reaching Afghanistan, Abdulla had sent audio clips to lure more people to IS. He had sent more than 90 audio clips through various accounts on Telegram app. The audio messages tried to convey the life under the ¡®Khalifate¡¯ and contained what IS thought was true Islam.

Abdulla took the leadership of the Kerala module after the killing of Shajeer Mangalasseri Abdulla, another engineering graduate from Kozhikode. Shajeer too was killed in Afghanistan.

Muslim scholars in Kerala including MM Akbar, CP Salim and Zakkariyya Swalahi had refuted the contents in Abdulla¡¯s messages, which were sometimes very provocative.

Swalahi has written a book arguing that Abdulla¡¯s positions were against Islam. Abdulla had asked Muslims in Kerala to attack non-believers. Security agencies, however, have not yet confirmed the death of the IS leader. Sources in the agencies said that they needed to get some more details to reach a conclusion.

They are waiting for the reaction from Abdulla¡¯s relatives, who are now in the Gulf.