F.B.I. Confirms Death Of Top Al-Qaeda Bomb-Maker Marwan In Raid In Philippines

A wanted Islamic terrorist linked with Al-Qaeda is now believed to be dead following a disastrous raid conducted in the Philippines by Filipino police commandos last Jan. 25, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced. The raid led to the death of more than 40 members of an elite unit of the Philippine police.

Zulkifli bin Hir, better known as Marwan, a reputed master bomb-maker from Malaysia, was believed to have been killed in a botched counter-terrorism raid in Maguindanao province in southern Philippines, NBC News reported.

Authorities have already examined DNA samples from the body of one of the slain fighters believed to be Marwan. Although initial results do support that the body was likely that of Marwan, the samples "do not provide absolute identification," said David Bowdich, assistant director in-charge of the F.B.I. Los Angeles office.

Marwan was a member of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah and believed to have taken refuge in southern Philippine island of Mindanao since 2003.

Forty-four members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force were killed in the operation that sought to arrest the terrorist suspect who had a $5-million bounty on his head.

"We express our deepest condolences to the brave officers of the Special Action Force, who lost their lives while attempting to apprehend a dangerous fugitive," Bowdich said in a statement.

The Philippine government vowed that it will go after 63 other identified militant bomb experts after taking down Marwan, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on Sunday.

Marwan had 63 associates who were all trained by Jemaah Islamiyah's bomb expert and senior member Dulmatin, the Inquirer said.

Dulmatin was one of the masterminds behind the bombings of two nightclubs in the island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly tourists, in 2002. He was killed by Indonesia police in 2010.