Abu Tahir, hailing from Palakkad in Kerala, who had joined al-Qaeda in 2013, is suspected to have been killed in Syria.
Abu Tahir went missing in 2013 when he was living in Qatar. In a Facebook post he wrote sometime later, he announced that he had joined al-Qaeda.
Manorama reports that one of Tahir’s relatives received news of his death through a message on social media. According to the message, Tahir was killed on April 4 during an attack by US forces in Syria. However there has been no official confirmation in this regard.
Tahir, a native of Puthuppariyaram in Palakkad, moved to Qatar in 2013. Soon after that, his relatives received word that he had gone to Mecca to perform umrah (pilgrimage). However, Tahir then went missing before emerging in al-Qaeda. The news that he had joined the terrorist organisation was also reportedly confirmed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
News of Tahir’s death came on the same day as the death of another Kerala native who had left India to join the Islam9. According to reports, Bestin Vincent aka Yahiya, who had gone missing from Kerala in 2016, was killed in Afghanistan.
News of Bestin’s death too reached his relatives through social media. Bestin, along with his wife, his brother and his brother’s wife was among 21 young Muslim men and women who had gone missing in July last year. In September 2016, Yasmin Mohad Zahid, who was arrested by NIA sleuths in New Delhi, revealed that the 21 Keralites had joined ISIS.
On April 14, 28-year old Murshid from Padne in Kasargode was also killed. In February, Hafeesudhien, a 23 year-old from Padne was killed in a drone strike, according to a message received by his relatives.