One more Kerala youth who joined the ISIS was killed in Afghanistan. Yahiya – aka Bestin Vincent – was killed, according to the social media account of Ashfaq, another ISIS recruit from Kerala, reported Manoramaonline.
Bestin, a native of Palakkad, left Kerala and joined the ISIS in June 2016, along with his wife Merrin, brother Bexen and sister-in-law Nimisha. In his late 20s, Bestin had converted from Christianity to Islam and joined the ISIS.
Also Read: Kerala’s Missing 21: A Complex Web of Conversion & Radicalisation
‘This is the Path He Chose’: Bestin’s Father
Bestin used to occasionally send messages to his family from Afghanistan, but his family had little hope that he would return. In March, his father Vincent told TNM, “They left home of their own will and they must be aware of the path they chose for themselves. They haven't returned yet because they have chosen to stay there," Vincent said.
Bestin is perhaps the third person from the 21 who had left Kerala to have died in Afghanistan. On 14 April, 28-year old Murshid from Padne village in Kasaragode in the state, was killed. The information regarding the death of Murshid was received through a social worker in Kasaragode.
Murshid was reportedly killed in a drone attack in Nargarhar province in Afghanistan, but there were also other reports which suggested that he was killed when the US dropped the 'Mother Of All Bombs'.
Murshid was reportedly working in the Gulf, before he went missing in July 2016. In February, Hafeesudheen, a 23-year-old from Padne, was killed in a drone strike, according to a message received by his relatives. Hafees also went missing in 2016.
In September 2016, a shocking revelation came that 21 Keralites had joined the ISIS. The group included six women and three children. The revelation was made by Yasmin Mohad Zahid who was arrested by NIA sleuths from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi in August.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute)
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