Last Updated: February 23, 2023, 16:20 IST
Al-Kashmiri was arrested during the Ghani regime but escaped from Bargam prison after Taliban came to power. (Shutterstock)
Afghan intelligence had identified jaz Amin Ahangar, known as Abu Usman Al-Kashmiri, as the mastermind of the suicide bombing in March 2020 which claimed the life of a security guard and 24 worshippers at the Gurdwara Kart-e Parwan in Kabul
The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) has confirmed the death of Ejaz Amin Ahangar, known as Abu Usman Al-Kashmiri, a senior member of the group in southern Afghanistan.
In a statement, IS-K said Al-Kashmiri was killed on February 14 during a clash with the Taliban. However, the exact location where he died was not mentioned.
Before joining IS-K, Al-Kashmiri was a member of Harakat Al-Mujahedin in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). He then joined al-Qaeda and in 2015, announced that he had joined the ISIS.
Al-Kashmiri is believed to have been the first Amir of the ‘Indian province’ of ISIS. Afghan intelligence had identified him as the mastermind of the suicide bombing in March 2020 which claimed the life of a security guard and 24 worshippers at the Gurdwara Kart-e Parwan in Kabul.
Declared a designated terrorist in January 2023, Al-Kashmiri had also asked Ijas Kallukettiya Purayil, a former dentist from Kasargod in Kerala, to carry out attacks in the state. He was arrested during the Ghani regime but escaped from Bargam prison after Taliban came to power. While there has been no confirmation so far by the Taliban regime to India, Al-Kashmiri’s death is being seen as a big victory.
Over the past few months, the Taliban has reported numerous clashes with ISIS members in different provinces of Afghanistan.
Last month, a Home Ministry notification designated Al-Kashmiri as a terrorist and said he was living in Afghanistan. It said he was “engaged in restarting Islamic State (IS) channels in India” and had been involved in taking Kashmir towards militancy for which he had started the process of “identifying people to include them in his Kashmir-based network”.
The ministry added that Al-Kashmiri had been appointed the head of the Islamic State’s recruitment in India and was instrumental in launching an online India-centric IS propaganda magazine.
The notification said he was wanted for more than two decades and had started making a “terror strategy in the region by creating a coordination channel between several terrorist organisations”.
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