Philippine Air Strike Hits Total Paydirt Killing 15 Islamic Terrorists and a Who's Who of Wanted Leaders

It's not often we even SEE a report of the Philippines military taking action against the very real islamic terrorists in their country but considering WHO they took out in this new air strike makes it impossible NOT to report the incident.

From the report at The Long War Journal:

The Philippine Air Force force killed a senior Jemaah Islamiyah leader, a top Abu Sayyaf Group commander, and 13 others, including a wanted Singaporean terrorist, during an airstrike in Sulu province.

Zulkifli bin Hir, one of the most wanted leaders of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah; Umbra Jumdail, a senior Abu Sayyaf commander, and his son Teng; and Muhamad Ali, another wanted JI operative, were all killed in the early morning today in an airstrike, according to the country's top military commander.

Chief of Staff General Jessie Dellosa said the 3 a.m. airstrike targeted a camp in the village of Duyan Kabaw in Parang in the southern province of Sulu. Dellosa expressed certainty that the terrorist leaders had been killed even though the military was not in possession of the dead bodies.

"I am sure because I will not easily issue a statement here," he said, according to Inquirer News. "We have intelligence people and locals in the area."

A military spokesman said the strike, which was carried out by two OV-10 Broncos, light military attack aircraft used in counterinsurgency operations, was the result of months of intelligence gathering. Several 500-pound bombs were dropped on the terrorists' camp. No civilians were reported to have been killed in the strike.

You can tell from this report that the Philippines military had perfect intelligence on this and it was decided that they simply would not allow anyone to survive from this camp - this must have been an incredible scene late at night when the bombs rained down on the jihadis.

To take out that many terrorist leaders at one time is amazing in any setting - I have to be honest, there have been similar gatherings of Taliban leadership in Pakistan from time to time that I have dreamt of the same sort of attack taking place.

Philippine military kills wanted Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayyaf operatives in airstrike


The Philippine Air Force force killed a senior Jemaah Islamiyah leader, a top Abu Sayyaf Group commander, and 13 others, including a wanted Singaporean terrorist, during an airstrike in Sulu province.

Zulkifli bin Hir, one of the most wanted leaders of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah; Umbra Jumdail, a senior Abu Sayyaf commander, and his son Teng; and Muhamad Ali, another wanted JI operative, were all killed in the early morning today in an airstrike, according to the country's top military commander.

Chief of Staff General Jessie Dellosa said the 3 a.m. airstrike targeted a camp in the village of Duyan Kabaw in Parang in the southern province of Sulu. Dellosa expressed certainty that the terrorist leaders had been killed even though the military was not in possession of the dead bodies.

"I am sure because I will not easily issue a statement here," he said, according to Inquirer News. "We have intelligence people and locals in the area."

A military spokesman said the strike, which was carried out by two OV-10 Broncos, light military attack aircraft used in counterinsurgency operations, was the result of months of intelligence gathering. Several 500-pound bombs were dropped on the terrorists' camp. No civilians were reported to have been killed in the strike.

The operation was "based on a thorough, well-executed plan and months of continuous monitoring and surveillance of JI and ASG personalities," Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., a military spokesman, said during a briefing, Inquirer News reported. In early January, a senior general disclosed that the military was engaged in operations in Sulu hunting for Hir; Muhamad Ali; Qayim and Sa'ad, two Indonesians; and Amin Baco, who is thought to be a Malaysian national.

Although no US involvement in the strike has been reported, US Special Forces are based in the Philippines to aid the government and military in their fight against the al Qaeda-linked groups and to assist in humanitarian efforts. The Philippine constitution prohibits US troops from engaging in combat operations in the country.

Zulkifli bin Hir, a Malaysian national known as "Marwan," is wanted by the US government, which has a $5 million reward out for information leading to his capture. Hir is "an engineer trained in the United States" and "is believed to be the head of the Kumpulun Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) terrorist organization and a member of Jemaah Islamiyah's central command," according to the US State Department's Rewards for Justice website. He is believed to have been sheltering in the Philippines since 2003 and has served as a bomb maker for the Abu Sayyaf Group.

Umbra Jumdail, a senior Abu Sayyaf Group commander who is also known as Doc Abu, is wanted by both the US government, which has offered a $140,000 reward for information leading to his capture, and the Philippine government. He has been involved in numerous kidnappings and assassinations.

Muhamad Ali, a Singaporean national also known as Mauwiya Anjala, is a Jemaah Islamiyah leader who is also wanted by the US, which has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

Jemaah Islamiyah is an Islamist terrorist group that seeks to establish a pan-Islamic state across Southeast Asia. Jemaah Islamiyah is most active in Indonesia and the Philippines, but also conducts operations in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The terror group is al Qaeda's regional affiliate in Southeast Asia and its operatives have been responsible for devastating attacks in the region, including the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, the 2004 suicide car bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, the August 2003 car bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta, and a series of bombings in Manila.

The terror group has suffered major setbacks inside Indonesia, with many of its top leaders killed or captured over the past several years. Among them are Dulmatin, a top leader and military commander (killed in 2010); and Noordin Mohammed Top, a senior leader, recruiter, strategist, and fundraiser (killed in 2009). Umar Patek, a top JI leader, was captured in March 2010 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, just months before al Qaeda emir Osama bin Laden was killed in the same city in a US special operations raid. Abu Bakir Bashir, the terror group's founder, is currently in prison for founding, financing, and supporting al Qaeda in Aceh.

The Abu Sayyaf Group is a Philippines-based terrorist and criminal gang formed by fighters who returned from the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union. The group was funded and financed by Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, one of Osama bin Laden's brother-in-laws, according to Khaddafy Janjalani, the leader of Abu Sayyaf before he was killed in 2006. Khalifa, an al Qaeda financier and facilitator, was killed by US special operations forces in Madagascar in 2006.

Indonesian Anti-Terror Forces Arrest Former Head of Jemaah Islamiyah

The Indonesians have been cracking down on the islamic terrorists in their country pretty hard recently....I claim it is because Barack Hussein Obama cancelled his trip there twice due to the lack of security in the country (I think the White House line at the time was that Obama had to stay home for important domestic issues) but today, the leader of the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah was apprehended due to his link to a new terror group that had formed. Abu Bakar Bashir spent a few years in prison for his links to the Bali bombings but got out in 2006 - and of course, like any other good islamic terrorist leader, he got out of prison and immediately set about starting a new terror group and beginning plans to attack the sitting government.

You know, there's some people you are just better off lining up in front of a firing squad.

Here's the story from DAWN.

Radical Indonesian cleric arrested for terrorism


JAKARTA: Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, once imprisoned for his links to the terror group behind the Bali bombings, was arrested Monday for alleged involvement with a new militant network.

His lawyer, Muhammad Ali, said the arrest took place on Monday morning in West Java’s Ciamis district.

Bashir is best known as the founder and spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group responsible for the 2002 bombings on Indonesia's resort
island of Bali that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.

He spent several years in prison for his involvement with the group, but was released in 2006
.
He was arrested Monday for alleged involvement with a new terror cell in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh, the lawyer said.

Authorities discovered the new group in February and said it was allegedly planning to assassinate the president and carry out Mumbai-style attacks targeting foreigners.

Dozens of suspects linked to that cell, which called itself Al-Qaeda in Aceh, have been arrested or killed in recent months. Rumors have circulated for weeks that Bashir, a fiery preacher known for propagating hatred against foreigners, was next on the list.

Obama's Delayed Trip To Asia...It Ain't Because of the Healthcare Bill

Yesterday, we saw this announcement from the White House (from Fox News):

President Obama has pushed back his trip to Indonesia for three days to work with beleaguered Democrats on trying to wrap up a health care overhaul.

Oh really? Now, don't think for a minute that this delay in Obama leaving isn't a big deal - you have to understand that this trip is a logistics nightmare with several countries involved with minute by minute organizational and security issues that have been planned for months and months and for Obama to delay the trip by three days, causes havoc for all involved...yet we are supposed to believe that Obama is doing it just because of the healthcare bill negotiations.

I think not.

Read this excerpt from an AFP story and you will see where I am going with this:

PEMALANG, Indonesia — Slain Islamist bomb-maker Dulmatin was buried in his Indonesian home village Friday as a large crowd of mourners chanted "God is greater" and acclaimed him as a holy warrior.
The crowd of more than 2,000 shouted "Allahu Akbar" as the Jemaah Islamiyah bomb specialist was laid to rest in the village of Pemalang in Central Java, watched by a heavy police presence, an AFP photographer said.

Dulmatin had a 10-million-dollar US bounty on his head. He was accused of being a mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings by Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

About two hours after the burial, the Detachment 88 counter-terrorism squad were involved in a fresh gunfight with suspected Islamist militants in Aceh province. Two terror suspects were shot dead and another eight arrested, said national police chief detective Ito Sumardi said.
A police source told an AFP correspondent at the scene that the gunfight started when police stopped a minivan on the street.
Two men jumped out of the vehicle and opened fire while trying to escape. The two were shot dead after a brief exchange of fire, the source said.
The remaining passengers in the vehicle were rounded up. Police also seized five rifles, a semi-automatic pistol and 25 bullets.

Oh, and there is more...much more in that Indonesia is panicking ahead of this visit by President Obama. Look at this from The Straits Times:

SUSPICION is mounting that the fugitive militant Umar Patek may be in Aceh, after word spread on Wednesday that the Indonesian counter-terrorism force was hot on his trail.
Umar was a key leader of the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah (JI) in Indonesia until he fled to the southern Philippines in 2003.
He is thought to have returned to Indonesia last year with another fugitive JI member, Dulmatin, the 40-year-old bomb-maker who was shot dead on Tuesday in West Jakarta.

So, it is my contention that this Obama trip to Indonesia and then on to Australia has been delayed, not because of the healthcare bill, but because of security issues for Obama being in Indonesia.

Obviously, Barack Hussein Obama wants to make a big deal out of this visit to Indonesia so he can once again "connect" with Muslims around the world and he can put out a speech about his childhood days at the madrassa in Indonesia - and Obama does NOT want to have to cancel this visit but at the same time, as you can see, Indonesia ain't exactly the safest place for an American President with U.S. bounties galore out there on leaders of Jemaah Islamiah.

It's my guess that U.S. security officials and the Secret Service are not comfortable that Obama will be safe in Indonesia - and the situation is only worse now with the death of Dulmatin because it would be the perfect way for those of Jemaah Islamiah to avenge his death. A dead U.S. President would martyr Dulmatin to the nth degree.

I think it is entirely possible that there will be an announcement this week that Obama's trip will "change" and that he will skip the visit to Indonesia and just go to Australia...odd isn't it...that a U.S. President who has done nothing since the first day of his Presidency but reach out for compromise and appeasement to islamic terrorists, would find himself the target of their vengeance. Perhaps Barack Hussein Obama is realizing what I have said all along...it ain't because we are Americans, it ain't because we are from the West, it ain't because of what we did in the past...it's simply because we are infidels.

Slain Islamist militant leader buried in Indonesia


PEMALANG, Indonesia — Slain Islamist bomb-maker Dulmatin was buried in his Indonesian home village Friday as a large crowd of mourners chanted "God is greater" and acclaimed him as a holy warrior.

The crowd of more than 2,000 shouted "Allahu Akbar" as the Jemaah Islamiyah bomb specialist was laid to rest in the village of Pemalang in Central Java, watched by a heavy police presence, an AFP photographer said.

"The funeral has gone well, with no problems or difficulties. Everybody in this village came and helped us," Dulmatin's eldest brother Azam Ba'afut said after the body was driven by ambulance from the Indonesian capital.

"This shows that my brother was a good man," he said.

Dulmatin, 39, and two other people were shot dead Tuesday in a gunfight with counter-terrorism forces on the edge of Jakarta. It was the latest in a series of raids just ahead of a visit to Indonesia by US President Barack Obama.

Dulmatin's identity was confirmed the next day by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who called the Al-Qaeda-trained extremist "one of the top Southeast Asian terrorists".

Dulmatin had a 10-million-dollar US bounty on his head. He was accused of being a mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings by Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

"He was not a terrorist but a holy warrior," another relative, Sahid Ahmad Sungkar, was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

"His death is the will of Allah, who will decide who's right or wrong," he added.

Dulmatin's death came after Indonesian security forces conducted several raids nationwide following the discovery of an extremist training camp in Aceh province in late February.

About two hours after the burial, the Detachment 88 counter-terrorism squad were involved in a fresh gunfight with suspected Islamist militants in Aceh province. Two terror suspects were shot dead and another eight arrested, said national police chief detective Ito Sumardi said.

A police source told an AFP correspondent at the scene that the gunfight started when police stopped a minivan on the street.

Two men jumped out of the vehicle and opened fire while trying to escape. The two were shot dead after a brief exchange of fire, the source said.

The remaining passengers in the vehicle were rounded up. Police also seized five rifles, a semi-automatic pistol and 25 bullets.

JI, an Al-Qaeda inspired group whose mission is to create a Muslim caliphate across Southeast Asia, is blamed for multiple incidents across Indonesia including the 2002 carnage in Bali and attacks on Jakarta hotels last year.

Bali Bombing Mastermind, Dulmatin, Killed In Indonesia Raid

Okay, I'm a little gunshy about announcing the death of a islamic terror big fish about now but here goes... the mastermind behind the Bali bombings, Dulmatin, was killed just outside of Indonesia's capital of Jakarta today during a security forces raid. Here's the report from Times Online:

The alleged mastermind behind the 2002 Bali bombings is believed to have been killed in a shoot-out with Indonesian police on the outskirts of Jakarta today.
Dulmatin, nicknamed "the Genius", was an explosives expert who was believed to have set off one of the Bali bombs with a mobile phone, as well as helping to assemble the massive car bomb used in the attacks, which killed 202 people.
The shoot-out happened during a morning raid on a house in Pamulang city, west of the Indonesian capital. Police said the raid, which comes two weeks before a visit by President Obama, targeted Dulmatin and two other senior members of the militant Islamist organisation Jemaah Islamiyah.
Indonesia's counter-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, has launched a series of raids across the archipelago following the discovery of a militant Islamic training camp in Aceh, on the island of Sumatra, last month. Police have detained 21 suspected members of the group in Aceh and Java, while two have been killed.

I don't know about you but doesn't it seem a wee bit coincidental that this mastermind of the horrific Bali bombings that took place way back in 2002 gets located and killed just a couple of weeks before the visit by Barack Hussein Obama?

Anyway, there are a lot of families of the Bali bombing victims who will now feel at least a bit of justice has been served out ....especially families of the victims from Australia who were hit so hard in that infamous nightclub bombing. And if this turns out to be a "mistaken identity" by the Indonesian officials, I think I'll throw my hands in the air and blog about Rahm Emanuel for a week.

Bali bomber mastermind Dulmatin 'killed in shoot-out'


The alleged mastermind behind the 2002 Bali bombings is believed to have been killed in a shoot-out with Indonesian police on the outskirts of Jakarta today.

Dulmatin, nicknamed "the Genius", was an explosives expert who was believed to have set off one of the Bali bombs with a mobile phone, as well as helping to assemble the massive car bomb used in the attacks, which killed 202 people.

The shoot-out happened during a morning raid on a house in Pamulang city, west of the Indonesian capital. Police said the raid, which comes two weeks before a visit by President Obama, targeted Dulmatin and two other senior members of the militant Islamist organisation Jemaah Islamiyah.

Indonesia's counter-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, has launched a series of raids across the archipelago following the discovery of a militant Islamic training camp in Aceh, on the island of Sumatra, last month. Police have detained 21 suspected members of the group in Aceh and Java, while two have been killed.

Tito Karnavian, the anti-terrorism police chief, confirmed that the man killed was linked to a militant group in Aceh.

"Yes, he is the culprit, the one that sent people to Aceh. He's a big name," Mr Karnavian told reporters.

A police source said that the man was believed to be Dulmatin, one of the most wanted senior leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah. There was no official confirmation on the man's identity but police are due to hold a press conference later today.

Gunfire was heard as police raided a two-storey building at about 11am (0400 GMT) in Pamulang, witnesses told local television.

A television news station quoted witnesses as saying that a man and woman arrived by motorbike at a complex made up of shops and houses. The man, aged between 30 and 40, went into an internet café while the woman went into a salon next door. About ten minutes later members of Detachment 88 raided the internet café, shots were heard and a body bag was taken out. The woman was taken into custody along with a manager of the complex.

"The body of a man has just been taken by an ambulance to a police hospital," a television report quoted a witness as saying.

Dulmatin was the last of the Bali bombers to evade capture. He is believed to have been living in hiding in the Philippines and had been linked to the separatist organisation Abu Sayyaf in the south of the country.

The one-time car mechanic is widely believed to have been the protégé of Azahari Husin, another suspected mastermind of the 2002 Bali attacks and other bombings, who was killed by police in 2005.

Under Husin's guidance Dulmatin became one of the few Jemaah Islamiyah militants who was able to assemble and explode large chlorate and nitrate bombs, according to the Asia Pacific Foundation.

He is also known to have attended a militant training camp in Afghanistan, returning to Indonesia in the mid-1990s, where he is thought to have been a regular visitor at an Islamic school in Solo founded by Abu Bakar Ba'shir, Jemaah Islamiyah's spiritual leader

Terror Attack In Indonesia Foiled - Westerners Targeted

A terror plot in Indonesia's capital of Jakarta has been foiled by security police there - and this would have been a bad one, with over 22 bombs seized during the arrests. Here's some of the report from Breitbart:

At least 22 bombs were seized during raids Wednesday in Palembang, a coastal city on Sumatra. Some were packed with bullets to maximize the impact of the blast, Nataprawira said

The arrests began Saturday in the Sumatran village of Sekayu when police captured 35-year-old Singaporean terror suspect Abu Hazam, who allegedly met with bin Laden on several occasions and received training in Afghanistan, the police said.
"He admitted giving bomb-making training to a number of Palembang residents implicated with the terror network," said Nataprawira.

It isn't exactly clear from the article which terror group in Indonesia these jihadists are tied to - whether it is actually Jemaah Islamiyah or the faction that broke off from Jemaah awhile ago. Either way this has al Qaeda fingerprints all over it. If you recall, it was the Bali bombing that killed over 200 people that was the doing of the al Qaeda linked terrorists in Indonesia.

As is always the case in Indonesia, one will have to hold his breath as to the disposition of these terrorists - Indonesia has a legal precedent that maintains that sufficient proof has to be submitted within seven days or these guys would walk.

As you will see in the article, the capital city of Jakarta was not the first chosen target of this group as they originally wanted to hit the isle of Sumatra but changed that after they felt too many Indonesians would be killed in the Sumatra operation.

Police foil terror attack on Indonesian capital

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Anti-terror police arrested 10 suspected Muslim militants and seized a large cache of high-powered bombs, foiling a major attack targeting Westerners in the Indonesian capital, police and media reports said Thursday.
Among those detained was a Singaporean who met several times with Osama bin Laden, a senior police officer told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The arrests highlighted the lingering terror threat in Indonesia, which has been hit by a string of suicide bombings blamed on the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah since Sept. 11, 2001, including the 2002 attacks on Bali island that left 202 people dead, many of them foreign tourists.
There were no immediate details about the timing or the exact location of the planned strike in Jakarta.
Some of the suspects told police during interrogations that they had initially planned to attack foreign tourists on Sumatra Island, but shifted their target to Jakarta after realizing too many Indonesian lives could have been lost, TVOne quoted anti-terror police as saying.
The militants canceled a planned attack on Kafe Bedudel, a small cafe in the hilly resort town of Bukittinggi in West Sumatra, police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira told reporters Thursday.
The Indonesian government has won praise for arresting and convicting hundreds of Islamic militants since the Bali attacks, leaving the terror network severely weakened and isolated, with the most recent strike occurring more than 2 1/2 years ago.
Citing improvements in security, the United States lifted a travel warning early this year that had been in place since 2000 and there were no immediate plans to reverse that decision.
"The Indonesian government's response to the threat has improved," said Tristram Perry, the public diplomacy officer at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. "If anything, these busts validate the lifting of the ban."
At least 22 bombs were seized during raids Wednesday in Palembang, a coastal city on Sumatra. Some were packed with bullets to maximize the impact of the blast, Nataprawira said.
Many were ready to use, he said, adding that dozens of pounds of explosive powder, grenades and several types of electric detonators also were recovered.

The reports said the man, also known as Omar, tipped police off to the whereabouts of two other suspects, Abdul Rahman and an unidentified alleged bomb-maker, who were arrested Monday. Six others were netted Wednesday and a seventh before dawn Thursday.
All but one of the men were flown to the capital, their faces covered by black masks as they disembarked from the police aircraft. If found guilty of violating anti-terrorism laws, they face a maximum penalty of death.
Lawyers have agreed to represent the alleged militants and will be present when police begin formal questioning, according to a group of attorneys that specializes in defending terror suspects.
If sufficient evidence is not found after seven days, they must be released