 ONE of the two bomb-makers behind the 2002 Bali nightclub attacks was believed to have been killed yesterday in a targeted air strike. The strike came after spies tracked him to a meeting with terrorists from the southern Philippines-based militant group Abu Sayyaf, the Philippines military said last night. Philippines officials said they were confident that Dulmatin, one of the most wanted men in Southeast Asia, was at a meeting bombed by fighter jets and attack helicopters in an Islamic stronghold 900km south of Manilla.
| Don't get your hopes up, no body parts, yet |
The Australian Federal Police last night said it had received no information from the Philippines and was unable to confirm the development. If true, however, the attack has killed one of Jemmah Islamiah's most capable bomb-makers at the gathering with two acolytes and Abu Sayyaf chief, Khadaffy Janjalani, who had evaded the military for five years. The meeting was being held in a marshland hut in Mindanao Province, a notorious heartland of Islamic rebels. Two bomber aircraft dropped 100kg bombs and attack helicopters followed up with six rockets. "We had six targets, and they were all hit in the bombing runs," said the Philippine military's Southern Command chief, Colonel Domingo Tutaan.
Dulmatin's assassination would be the biggest breakthrough in the hunt for the remaining Bali bombers in the past two years. Like his mentor Dr Azahari, who remains on the run in Java, Dulmatin is Afghanistan-trained and one of the few JI militants able to assemble and explode large chlorate and nitrate bombs. Police allege he was the man who mixed and assembled the 500kg bomb that destroyed the Sari Club, claiming most of the 202 lives lost during the Bali blasts of October 2002. | He's a dangerous guy, hope they got him this time. |
The International Crisis Group's Sydney Jones claimed earlier this month that Dulmatin had been the target of a similar, failed strike in the same area on November 18. JI is believed to have formed links with the Abu Sayyaf up to five years ago. Abu Sayyaf rebels once claimed to have fought for an Islamic state in the south of The Philippines, but won infamy around the world for the repeated kidnapping and killing of tourists. Both groups are alleged to enjoy the ongoing support of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has been semi-legitimised by the Philippine Government as an autonomous group representing Muslims in the largely Islamic south of the country. Meanwhile, another of the Bali bombers, Mubarok, yesterday refused to give evidence at the terrorist trial in Jakarta of Jemmah Islamiah's alleged spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir. Mubarok, who is serving life in prison for aiding the bombers, said he could shed no light on whether Bashir had given several of the bombers, including Amrozi, his blessing before the deadly attacks. |