Last Update: February 23, 2023, 16:20 IST
Al-Kashmiri was arrested during the Ghani regime but escaped from Bargam prison after the Taliban came to power. (Shutterstock)
Afghan intelligence had identified Jaz Amin Ahangar, better known as Abu Usman al-Kashmiri, as the mastermind of the March 2020 suicide bombing that claimed the lives of a security guard and 24 worshipers at Gurdwara Kart-e Parwan in Kabul. had claimed.
The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) has confirmed the death of Aijaz Amin Ahangar, better known as Abu Usman al-Kashmiri, a senior member of the group in southern Afghanistan.
IS-K said in a statement that al-Kashmiri was killed during clashes with the Taliban on 14 February. However, the exact place where he died was not mentioned.
Prior to joining IS-K, al-Kashmiri was a member of Harkat al-Mujahideen in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). He then joined Al-Qaeda and in 2015 announced that he had joined ISIS.
Al-Kashmiri is believed to have been the first emir of ISIS’ “Indian province”. Afghan intelligence identified him as the mastermind of a suicide bombing in March 2020 that claimed the lives of a security guard and 24 worshipers at Gurdwara Kart-e Parwan in Kabul.
Declared a designated terrorist in January 2023, al-Kashmiri had also asked Ijas Kalluketia Purayil, a former dentist from Kasaragod in Kerala, to carry out attacks in the state. He was arrested during the Ghani regime but escaped from Bargam prison after the Taliban came to power. Although there has been no confirmation from the Taliban regime so far from India, al-Kashmiri’s death is being seen as a major victory.
In the past few months, the Taliban have reported several 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 involved in taking Kashmir towards militancy, for which he had “inducted people into his Kashmir-based network”. process of identification was initiated.
The ministry said al-Kashmiri has been appointed head of recruitment for the Islamic State India and was instrumental in starting an online India-focused IS propaganda magazine.
The notification said that he was wanted for more than two decades and had started “terrorist strategy in the region by creating a coordination channel among several terrorist organisations”.
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