The
Philippine Air Force force killed a senior Jemaah Islamiyah leader, a
top Abu Sayyaf Group commander, and 13 others, including a wanted
Singaporean terrorist, during an airstrike in Sulu province.
Zulkifli bin Hir, one of the most wanted leaders of the al
Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah; Umbra Jumdail, a senior Abu Sayyaf
commander, and
his son Teng;
and Muhamad Ali, another wanted JI operative, were all killed in the
early morning today in an airstrike, according to the country's top
military commander.
Chief of Staff General Jessie Dellosa said the 3 a.m. airstrike
targeted a camp in the village of Duyan Kabaw in Parang in the southern
province of Sulu. Dellosa expressed certainty that the terrorist leaders
had been killed even though the military was not in possession of the
dead bodies.
"I am sure because I will not easily issue a statement here," he said,
according to Inquirer News. "We have intelligence people and locals in the area."
A military spokesman said the strike, which was carried out by two
OV-10 Broncos, light military attack aircraft used in counterinsurgency
operations, was the result of months of intelligence gathering. Several
500-pound bombs were dropped on the terrorists' camp. No civilians were
reported to have been killed in the strike.
The operation was "based on a thorough, well-executed plan and months
of continuous monitoring and surveillance of JI and ASG personalities,"
Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., a military spokesman, said during a
briefing,
Inquirer News reported. In early January, a senior general disclosed that
the military was engaged in operations in Sulu hunting for Hir; Muhamad Ali; Qayim and Sa'ad, two Indonesians; and Amin Baco, who is thought to be a Malaysian national.
Although no US involvement in the strike has been reported, US
Special Forces are based in the Philippines to aid the government and
military in their fight against the al Qaeda-linked groups and to assist
in humanitarian efforts. The Philippine constitution prohibits US
troops from engaging in combat operations in the country.
Zulkifli bin Hir, a Malaysian national known as "Marwan," is wanted
by the US government, which has a $5 million reward out for information
leading to his capture. Hir is "an engineer trained in the United
States" and "is believed to be the head of the Kumpulun Mujahidin
Malaysia (KMM) terrorist organization and a member of Jemaah Islamiyah's
central command,"
according to the US State Department's Rewards for Justice website. He is believed to have been sheltering in the Philippines since 2003 and has served as a bomb maker for the Abu Sayyaf Group.
Umbra Jumdail, a senior Abu Sayyaf Group commander who is also known
as Doc Abu, is wanted by both the US government, which has offered a
$140,000 reward for information leading to his capture, and the
Philippine government. He has been involved in numerous kidnappings and
assassinations.
Muhamad Ali, a Singaporean national also known as Mauwiya Anjala, is a
Jemaah Islamiyah leader who is also wanted by the US, which has offered
a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Jemaah Islamiyah is an Islamist terrorist group that seeks to
establish a pan-Islamic state across Southeast Asia. Jemaah Islamiyah is
most active in Indonesia and the Philippines, but also conducts
operations in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The terror group is al
Qaeda's regional affiliate in Southeast Asia and its operatives have
been responsible for devastating attacks in the region, including the
2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, the 2004 suicide car bombing outside the
Australian Embassy in Jakarta, the August 2003 car bombing of the JW
Marriott hotel in Jakarta, and a series of bombings in Manila.
The terror group has suffered major setbacks inside Indonesia, with
many of its top leaders killed or captured over the past several years.
Among them are Dulmatin, a top leader and military commander (
killed in 2010); and Noordin Mohammed Top, a senior leader, recruiter, strategist, and fundraiser (
killed in 2009). Umar Patek, a top JI leader,
was captured in March 2010 in
Abbottabad, Pakistan, just months before al Qaeda emir Osama bin Laden
was killed in the same city in a US special operations raid. Abu Bakir
Bashir, the terror group's founder, is currently in prison for founding,
financing, and supporting al Qaeda in Aceh.
The Abu Sayyaf Group is a Philippines-based terrorist and criminal
gang formed by fighters who returned from the Afghan jihad against the
Soviet Union. The group was funded and financed by Mohammed Jamal
Khalifa, one of Osama bin Laden's brother-in-laws, according to Khaddafy
Janjalani, the leader of Abu Sayyaf before he was killed in 2006.
Khalifa, an al Qaeda financier and facilitator,
was killed by US special operations forces in Madagascar in 2006.
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