Missing Kasaragod youth killed by US ‘mother of all bombs’ in Afghan?

Kasaragod, Apr 14: T K Murshid Ahmed, a missing youth from Kerala’s Kasargod district, was killed on Thursday in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, where the US dropped the “mother of all bombs”, which claimed around three dozen lives, an unconfirmed report said.

The US on Thursday dropped a GBU-43 bomb, the largest non-nuclear device it has ever unleashed in combat, on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan. There is still no word on the damage done by the 9,797kg bomb.

Murshid’s father who lives in Padanna village in Kasaragod, got a message from Afghanistan, saying his son was “martyred” in the attack, sources said. Unconfirmed reports claimed he was killed in the US bombing.

“The short message in Telegram said he was martyred and exhorted parents and others to be proud of this supreme sacrifice,” Murshid’s uncle said. The message was reportedly sent by another missing youth Ashfaq Majeed, who is believed to be in Afghanistan.

Telegram, an internet-based communication app like WhatsApp, is the preferred mode of communication of terror outfits and those who try to create tension among people. Messages sent on Telegram self-destruct after 24 hours.

Murshid’s father refused to talk to media but sources said he showed the message to police, who said they were not in a position to confirm the authenticity of the message or the death.

A graduate, Murshid was studying to be a chartered account in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka. He went to Abu Dhabi to help his father in his business and called his mother on June 3, 2016, saying he was coming back to Kerala but didn’t.

The media and security agencies suspect he may have joined other IS aspirants in Mumbai or in Dubai.

Two months ago, another missing man from Kerala, Hafeezuiddin (24), was reportedly killed in a drone attack in Afghanistan.

At least 21 persons from north Kerala, including three children and four women, have gone missing under mysterious circumstances. The disappearance of the group sent shockwaves across the country. Most of these people were educated and hailed from upper middle class families. Intelligence agencies claimed that the group was in the Nangarhar province of the war-torn Afghanistan.