The Philippine military said Wednesday one of Southeast Asia's top Islamic militants was alive, more than two years after jubilantly declaring he had been killed in a US-backed airstrike.
Zulkifli bin Abdul Hir, alias Marwan, a Malaysian bomb maker with a $5-million US-government bounty on his head, is roaming the southern Philippines, senior military officials said.
"He is alive and we continue to monitor him," Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala told AFP.
Philippine military chiefs said in February 2012 that Zulkifli was among 15 members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah organisations killed in an airstrike on the southern island of Jolo.
Zulkifli is regarded as an expert bomb maker and a senior leader of Jemaah Islamiyah who first went into hiding in the southern Philippines in 2003.
In 2007 the US government offered a $5-million reward for his capture, making him one of the United States' most-wanted men.
Another top Jemaah Islamiyah member, Singaporean Mohammad Ali, alias Muawiyah, was also declared killed in the airstrike, along with a Filipino leader of the Abu Sayyaf.
"This is a big victory. There were three senior leaders (killed). This will have a very big impact on the capability of the terrorists," then-regional military commander Major General Noel Coballes said at the time.
Shortly afterwards, Malaysia expressed doubts about the purported killings but the Philippines' then military spokesman insisted all three were dead.
"Yes, it's an A-1 (information). We have something but we cannot divulge all the other information because its an operational (secret)," Arnulfo Burgos, Zagala's predecessor, said at the time.
10-12 terrorists roam in Mindanao
Earlier Wednesday, Interaksyon.com sources said at least 10 to 12 members of JI are still roaming with Muslim extremist groups in Mindanao, and it is believed that among them is Malaysian national Zulkipli and Singaporean national Muhammad Ali Bin Abd Al-Rahman alias Mauiyah, earlier declared as having been killed in government raids.
The revelation Wednesday follows publication of a foreign wire agency report citing a police interrogation report of an arrested JI leader who claimed the two men are still around.
It also comes a day after the Indonesian government started cracking down on extremist Islamic groups as fears rose that jihadists may be trying to influence Muslim groups in that country, from where the Jemaah Islamiyah is believed to have sprung.
The Jakarta security forces stepped up their alert after detained Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, serving a 15-year term for encouraging terrorist groups, was reported to have pledged "allegiance" to the leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) who recently declared a "caliphate" in Iraq and hundreds of whose followers are running across strategic towns and cities, sowing mayhem and seizing oilfields.
Killed in govt raids, but no DNA test proof so far
As for Marwan and Mauiyah, high-ranking Philippine military officials had earlier claimed the two extremist leaders were among those killed in government raids but that it was hard to recognize them as their body parts were splattered on tree branches and on the ground.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin had said that the Armed Forces of the Philippines through the Air Force’s two OV-10 surveillance planes armed with bombs had attacked an encampment of the JIs and their local partner, the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Parang, Sulu. At least 15 terrorists were reported killed.
The military said it had tapped foreign counterparts to conduct DNA tests on the recovered body parts, but no results have yet been released.
Besides Marwan and Mauiyah, the military also claimed that ASG senior leader Gumbahali Jumdail alias Dr. Abu had been killed, along with a Malaysian national named only as Jumong.
Dr. Abu carried a reward of P7.4 million ($140,000) for his capture. A $5-million bounty had been imposed for the capture of Marwan and for Mauiyah, $50,000.
Among others listed as being killed in the February air strike were Moammar Jumdail alias Ting, son of Dr. Abu; Tati Jamhali; Leong; Teng; Muin; Tuan Nash Lipae; and Julpe.
Defense and military officials then also disputed reports that it was not OV-10 planes that were used to bomb the terrorists but Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flown by the United States forces based in Mindanao.
On Wednesday, a source from military intelligence hinted at the possibility that indeed, Marwan and Muiyah are still alive, after an Associated Press report, citing a police interrogation report on JI-trained ASG leader Khair Mundos, had the latter supposedly admitting that Marwan and Mauiyah were still alive and operating in Mindanao.
Mundos, who served as a conduit of the Al-Qaeda-JI finance network, was arrested on June 9 in Barangay San Isidro, Paranaque City. There was a $500,000 bounty for his capture.
“As far as we are concerned, there's a big posibility Marwan is still alive. Well, we still get consistent reports of his presence in the Cotabato area. Some of our sources said they have met Marwan; and there was really no concrete evidence that would show that he was killed during the military offensive, I think two years ago,” the source admitted, speaking partly in Filipino.
“So, we cannot declare that he is dead but there are a lot of indications that he is still alive.”
“We assume," the source added, "that he (Marwan) is still alive and we are still doing intensified, focused intelligence operations against the remaining JIs in our country.”
The source said there are "ongoing efforts against Marwan and the rest of the JI personalities who are still here in the country… More or less they are around 10 to 12…" He said the most prominent of these is Marwan.
The source said some of the JI members are in Sulu together with the ASG; some are in Lanao and Cotabato provinces and Maguindanao.
In Maguindanao, Basit Usman, another JI-trained bomber and leader of the ASG, escaped together with members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) during a recent encounter with government troops in Maguindanao. But his wife was captured along with his son, who was said to be injured in the encounter.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/92748/marwan-top-ji-militant-is-alive-roaming-with-10-12-terrorists-in-mindanao
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