UN report warns of strong IS presence in Kerala, Karnataka

New York: A report by the United Nations has warned that there was a strong presence of the Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Kerala and Karnataka.

The group has about 150 to 200 terrorists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to the report by the UN team that monitors terror outfits such as al-Qaeda and the IS.

The terror group is reportedly controlled by the Taliban, which operates from Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar provinces of Afghanistan.

Osama Mahmood is the leader of the al-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent.

There are 180 and 200 members in the IS' Indian affiliate, known as Hind Wilayah that was announced on May 10, 2019, with significant number of terrorists in Kerala and Karnataka, the report pointed out.

As many as 6,000-6,500 terrorists of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been reportedly trained in Afghanistan to target India and are scouting for an opportunity. Around 600-650 al-Qaeda terrorists are operating in Afghanistan.

Kerala link?

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had last year conducted searches in Kasaragod and Palakkad in Kerala over alleged IS links.

They had also earlier busted an IS module in Kasaragod. As per the case, a criminal conspiracy was hatched by the accused from Kasaragod for furthering the IS’ objectives.

It was also revealed that several Keralite youths had left to join the terror outfit. A group of at least 14 people from the northern districts of Kerala had reportedly travelled to the Middle East in mid-2016, and were suspected to have joined the IS in Syria or Afghanistan.

Then reports emerged that some of these ‘missing’ people were killed in drone strikes in Afghanistan.