Sri Lankans leaving the country joining IS

According to media reports Sri Lankans are leaving the country to Syria with some joining the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, a senior official was quoted by the Xinhua news agency as saying.

Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi told the news agency that Sri Lankans had left with their families including women and children.

"They had said they were going on pilgrimage but I believe that some of them had joined ISIS," he said.

However, Hettiarachchi said he was not in possession of the details of how or with whom they had left the country.

The first Sri Lankan, known as Abhu Shuraih Sailani who allegedly had joined the IS, was reportedly killed in an air strike in July in Syria.

Sri Lanka's intelligence recently handed over as confidential report to President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe regarding the Sri Lankans leaving for Syria, the Xinhua report said.

Sri Lanka's Muslim organizations and leaders of the community have condemned the IS and accused its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of violating the tenets of Islam.