A Kerala youth who had allegedly joined the Islamic State in 2016 is believed to have been killed in a United States airstrike in Afghanistan, PTI reported on Sunday. The family of the youth, Yahya, received the news about his death on instant messaging service Telegram on Saturday night, the news agency quoted a social worker as saying.
The sender of the message, a man named Asfak who is reportedly also a fighter in Afghanistan, said Yahya had been “martyred” in the attack. “He was killed while fighting the American forces,” the message read. It, however, did not specify when he was killed. Palakkad Special Branch Police could not confirm the news but mentioned the Telegram message.
Yahya, who had converted to Islam, had been among 21 people from the state who had reportedly gone missing after travelling to West Asia last year and were suspected to have joined the terrorist organisation in Syria. His real name was Bestin Vincent, reported The Quint.
Bestin, a native of Palakkad, had taken along with him his wife Merrin, brother Bexen and sister-in-law Nimisha. In his late 20s, Bestin had converted from Christianity to Islam before joining the radical outfit. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had last year informed the state assembly that 21 people, including children, were missing, of which 17 were from Kasargode district and four from Palakkad.
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