Zulkifli Hir believed killed in Philippines

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police are yet to receive a report from their Philippines counterparts if Zulkifli Abdul Hir @ Marwan, a Malaysian terrorist highly wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), was among the rebels killed in a bloody battle that saw almost 50 police commandos dead on Sunday.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said today police are waiting for confirmation from Philippine authorities if the gunfight saw the last of the 49-year-old US-trained engineer and his reign of terror spanning over 20 years.
Following information of Zulkifli being holed up in a hamlet in Mindanao island, Philippine police' elite units moved in on Sunday to track down the highly-evasive Islamic radical who has a US$5 million (RM17 million) bounty put out by the FBI for his capture.
Philippine sources from the armed forces told theSun when police commandos entered the village of Mamasapano, a stronghold of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), they were hit by heavy artillery over the next 12 hours, taking massive casualties.
"The rebels appeared prepared for the police who unknowingly walked into the enemy's kill box. The Philippines army has taken over command in the area and it is yet to be known if Zulkifli is dead or alive although the casualties suffered by the rebels was less than half of the number of dead police commandos," sources said.
It is learnt that another key member of the BIFF, Basit Usman, was also sought by the commandos in the botched raid. It is yet to be ascertained if he too was killed in the clash.
Zulkifli, an al-Qaeda-trained bomb expert who is among the founding members of the Kumpulan Mujahiddin Malaysia (KMM), allegedly had a hand in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mainly Australians, and about the same number injured.
After travelling to troubled Islamic countries to support their cause for more than a decade, he settled in South Philippines where he trained rebels in bomb-making and guerilla warfare.
He is also said to be an influential mentor to Malaysians who were drawn to militancy and aspired to engage in terrorist activities.
In 2012, the Philippine government announced that he was among a dozen rebels who were killed in a military airstrike in Jolo. However, last year, Philippines military intelligence units learnt that Zulkifli survived the aerial raid but had fled the targeted area before going into hiding.