Coimbatore, Mangaluru blasts | Police to examine claims made by Islamic State of Khorasan Province mouthpiece on attacks

A propaganda magazine of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province, claimed it had a role in the October 2022 Coimbatore car blast and possibly, the November 2022 pressure cooker blast in Mangaluru

The Tamil Nadu police are looking into a claim made by the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), in a recent issue of its propaganda magazine Voice of Khurasan, stating that it had a role in the car explosion in front of Sangameswarar temple in Coimbatore on October 23 2022, and, possibly, the pressure cooker blast in an autorickshaw in Mangaluru on November 19, 2022.

Coimbatore City Police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan said the police were checking the claim.

“Know that the spark (of war) has already been lit. Do you not consider our attacks in Coimbatore (Tamilnadu) and Karnataka (Bangalore), where our brothers took revenge for the honor of our religion and terrorized kufar and its followers? Thus we promise you that this is just the beginning,” read a paragraph of an article titled ‘A message to the inhabitants in the land occupied by cow and mice worshipping filths’ in the magazine.

Though the write-up named the place in Karnataka as Bangalore, security agencies suspect it could be a reference to the pressure cooker blast reported in an autorickshaw in Mangaluru on November 19, 2022.

The article, which claims to be a message to Hindus, the BJP and the police and military, also mentioned mujahedin (those engaged in ‘holy war’) in south India.

“Our second message is to mujahedin all over the world, especially to mujahedin in south India. O brothers! O muwahhidin and mujahedin! O you who have been guided to the straight path, the path of truth, the path of triumph and the path of salvation,” the message said, calling for stern and harsh action towards disbelievers and for revenge to be taken on them for their actions.

Another portion read that Kashmir, the Babri Masjid [demolition] and the Gujrat riots among other incidents were not forgotten. “We have not forgotten how your military and police arrested their brothers and sisters, imprisoned them, and martyred them. O kuffar in south India, O BJP and police and military officers, by Allah we promise you a bloody revenge in return,” it said.