US, Philippine Militaries Kill Top Terror Leaders in Historic Airstrike
The Philippine military claims to have killed three terror suspects on a southern Philippine island on Thursday in a historic U.S.-backed anti-terrorism airstrike.
Among those killed was most wanted Al-Qaida terror leader Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir "Marwan" of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network, whom the U.S. government had placed a $5 million bounty for capture, according to The Associated Press.
Also killed were Umbra Jumdail, and Singaporean leader Abdullah Ali, who went by the guerrilla name Muawiyah, military spokesman Col. Marcelo Burgos told AP.
The three bodies were "positively identified by police and our intelligence informants at the site. What I know is that they will be buried," Burgos added.
Marwan, an engineer, is believed to have been trained in the U.S. and law enforcement suspects his involvement in several deadly terror attacks in the Philippines.
With the assistance of the Pentagon, the Philippine military raided a terror training camp on Jolo Island at about 3 a.m. where it is believed over two dozen terrorists from the mostly Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah were residing.
"Our report is there were at least 15 killed, including their three leadership. This is a deliberate, fully planned attack coming from our forces," regional military commander Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes said.
Four deadly bombs each weighing 500 pounds were unloaded from two bomber planes, instantly killing a number of militants.
The airstrike success marks one year since the arrest of Indonesian terror suspect Umar Patek in Pakistan's garrison town of Abbottabad, which shows slow but steady progress in the global fight against the Jemaah Islamiyah network.
Since 2003 the Philippines has been a designated Major Non-NATO Ally to the US, and since 2002 approximately 600 US troops have been deployed in the south Philippines providing advanced counterterrorism support.
While the airstrike was a national victory, officials warn that the fight against terrorism is not yet over in the southern Philippines and experts have estimated that there are still roughly 400 armed terror members of the Jemaah Islamiyah network in the region.
