Afghan intelligence sources have confirmed that at least 3 of the 11 suicide bombers behind the Jalalabad jail attack were Indian with one of them identified as Ijas Kallukettiya Purayil from Kasargod, in Kerala. Dr Ijas Kallukettiya Purayil is included in the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) “most wanted” list. 29 people were killed and 50 others injured in the attack. Eight of the attackers were killed in a battle lasting almost 20 hours.
About 1,000 prisoners who had tried to escape had been recaptured, and that another 400 — stuck inside the jail during the shootout — had been rescued. The prison was estimated to be housing 1,800 inmates included ISIS loyalists, Talibanis and other criminals.
Ijas Kallukettiya Purayil is known to be among the 22 Malayalis who had flown out of India to join Islamic State in 2016. They departed from Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Mumbai airports for Kuwait, Dubai, Muscat or Abu Dhabi from where they travelled to Afghanistan through Iran.
Ijas was booked by the NIA along with 14 others in 2015, and was charged with criminal conspiracy, waging war against the nation, commission of unlawful activities, and offence related to membership and support given to terrorist organisations. On 29 September 2016, an arrest warrant was also issued against Ijas by a special court in Ernakulam, Kerala.
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