Top militant in Bali bombings may have been killed: Philippines

A senior official from the Philippines says it is very likely that a Malaysian militant suspected of being behind the 2002 Bali bombings has been killed in a recent clash with police.

A total of 44 police commandoes were killed in an ambush by insurgents in the southern Philippines on Sunday. Twelve others were also wounded in the battle.

The commandos were members of the Special Action Force (SAF) unit of the Philippines’ National Police, who had been sent to the town of Mamasapano to capture militants suspected of having been involved in planning the Bali bombings, including fugitive Zulkifli bin Hir, known as Marwan.

“There is a high likelihood according to the participants that Marwan was killed in the operations, but this needs confirmation,” Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas told a news conference on Tuesday.

The official said that the commandos failed to recover the body of the kingpin but took pictures that will undergo scrutiny to determine whether the killed militant was Marwan or not.

In October 2002, two bombs ripped through the Kuta area of the Indonesian tourist island of Bali. The attack killed 202 people.

Marwan is suspected of having provided bomb-making training for a terrorist group that staged the Bali bombing. He has long been sought by the authorities.

According to Roxas, the Philippines’ police were killed during clashes with militants from two terrorist groups accused of sheltering Marwan.

Filipino authorities have alleged that some of the Bali bombers had fled to the south of the country, where they sought shelter with insurgents who have waged decades-old armed clashes against the Manila government.

AR/HJL

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