KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — The right-hand man of Malaysian-born terrorist Zulkifli Hir was responsible for leading Philippine Special Action Force (SAF) operatives to the wanted bomber’s hideout in a remote village in the Southern Philippines, according to a recent report.
A Catholic priest said to be well versed in peace efforts in the country’s restive southern region was quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as saying that the aide had led SAF commandos directly to Zulkifli’s hut in the middle of a cornfield in Tukanalipao village in Mamasapano in the pre-dawn hours of the January 25 raid.
Zulkifli — or better known by the moniker Marwan — was killed in the raid.
“He was with Marwan to make sure that Marwan was in the house, because the house of Marwan was already being monitored the night before,” said Fr Eliseo Mercado, who was a key figure in the peace process in Mindanao.
Mercado said the aide had then left the house at 2am to rendezvous with the assault team from the 84th SAF Seaborne Company and lead them to Marwan’s hideout.
However, the unidentified aide - who stood to earn a US$5 million reward offered by the United States for Marwan’s capture - was shot and killed by Marwan before the start of the raid.
Another wanted terrorist, Basit Usman, is believed to have escaped the raid as he was in a separate hut and was alerted by gunfire.
Both Marwan and Usman are bomb-making experts linked to Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
Marwan was also said to have been a leader with Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia, and was believed to have been hiding out in Mindanao under the protection of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters — an offshoot of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Marwan was considered a central figure in JI’s deadly Bali bombings in 2002 that killed 202 people, earning him a spot on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted terror list.
