The Kerala police have confirmed that four persons from Kannur who had left for Syria with the aim of joining terrorist organisation, ISIS, have since died, The New Indian Express reported.

According to the police, the four who died were among the ten belonging to two families (including women and children) from Kannur city who had travelled to Syria in 2018 in a bid to join ISIS. The four were killed during the police encounter, it is said.

According to police sources, two women, their husbands, and six children (three each from these two families), had joined ISIS.

Popular Front of India activist, T V Shamir, and his wife were the first to join the organisation. The family of Anwar soon followed suit.

Anwar and his family had left Kannur claiming that they were planning a tour of Bengaluru in November last year, but they never returned back. After their relatives filed a police complaint, investigation established that they had travelled to Syria via Iran.

The Kerala police now believe that Anwar, Shamir, and their two sons, Safwan and Salman, were the ones who died in this incident. There is no information available about the current status of the other surviving members of these two families.

According to Kannur district police, so far 35 from the district have joined ISIS. In the last one year, 15 from the state have reportedly died in a battle with Syrian army.