Top Jemaah Islamiyah Terrorist Killed In Police Raid

Dulmatin, a senior member of Jemaah Islamiyah, the armed Islamic terror group, was killed in a police raid at a Jakarta internet cafe. The US had a $10 million bounty on his head. Jemaah Islamiyah also appears to be renaming/remaking itself as al Qaeda in Indonesia.

Police had been tracking this terrorist for weeks.

Tuesday's raids, which came just a day before President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was to address the Australian parliament, set forensics experts scrambling to quickly confirm the Jemaah Islamiah leader's identity.

Indonesian National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said officers worked through Tuesday night to perform visual and DNA-based matches on Dulmatin's body after his shooting in a Jakarta internet cafe.

General Danuri said the news was conveyed to Dr Yudhoyono in Canberra about 2pm AEDT yesterday, enabling the President to announce minutes later to a parliamentary lunch in his honour that Dulmatin was dead.

It was the first official confirmation the regional terror leader had been killed.

Dulmatin was the bomb maker in the deadly Bali bombing, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. He was also known to have ties with Abu Sayyaf.

Separately, two other terrorists were killed in police raids. Two others were captured.

Senior Abu Sayyaf Terrorist Killed In Philippines Raid

Score one for the Philippines. Actually, make that score six. A senior Abu Sayyaf terrorist and six other terrorists were killed in a raid on the southern island of Jolo.

Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad was wanted for the abduction of three Red Cross workers on the island last year.

Gen Benjamin Dolorfino said his death was a "big blow" to the group.

Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for bombings, beheadings and kidnappings of Filipinos and foreigners. It has been accused of links with al-Qaeda.

"We have confirmed that one of the six bodies found belonged to Albader Parad as confirmed by independent civilian sources," said Gen Dolorfino.

The terrorist group has been quite active in the country's southern island archipelago and seeks to establish an independent Islamic state there. It's known to have ties with Jemaah Islamiah and al-Qaeda.

Philippines Nabs Two Abu Sayyaf Bigwigs

Two al-Qaida-linked Muslim militants, including one wanted for the 2001 kidnapping of three Americans and 17 other people from a resort island, were captured in separate raids in the southern Philippines, officials said Friday.

Troops arrested suspected Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Tuwatin Anahalul in Zamboanga del Sur province's Margusatubig town Thursday, said Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga.

Anahalul, also called Abu Basilan, has a $48,700 bounty on his head.

"He was involved in the Lamitan siege and Dos Palmas kidnapping," Allaga said.

Allaga was referring to the 2001 kidnapping at the Dos Palmas resort in western Palawan province. The Abu Sayyaf kidnappers brought their hostages by boat from Palawan to southern Basilan island, where they raided a hospital in Lamitan town. The militants, with hostages in tow, escaped four days later from the hospital after battling government troops.

Anahalul later guided troops as they arrested another Abu Sayyaf figure in Margusatubig. Officials have declined to name the second suspect because operations related to the case are continuing.

Last month, 14 Abu Sayyaf militants were sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping of U.S. missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, as well as Guillermo Sobero of Corona, California, and 17 others from the resort.

It remains to be seen whether they will indeed serve life in prison or find themselves released short of the full sentence as has been the case elsewhere in the world, including Indonesia and in the Middle East. We've also seen fatal consequences from the release of individuals held at GitMo - they return to jihad and are found fighting time and time again.

Philippines Goes With Appeasement

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Car Bomb Rocks Philippine Parliament

An explosion rocked an entrance to the Philippine House of Representatives late Tuesday, killing a driver and injuring at least seven people, including lawmakers, officials said.

Metropolitan Manila police chief Geary Barias said a lawmaker’s driver was killed, while ABS-CBN TV network said a number of cars were damaged and at least three lawmakers were among those injured.

The blast happened shortly as the House ended its session shortly after 8 p.m.

There's no word on who might have been responsible, but President Arroyo is facing a third impeachment complaint in three years, and you also have Islamic terrorist groups operating in the country as well. The House will meet as normal on Wednesday as it continues its impeachment hearings.

UPDATE:
The death toll is now two, and it's looking like Muslim terrorists were involved. That would be Abu Sayyaf, which has been known to operate in conjunction with al Qaeda.

UPDATE:
The NY Times article, which now reports that three were dead in the attack, waits until the tenth paragraph before introducing Abu Sayyaf and the likely ties between the terrorist group and the bombing.

Clashes in the Philippines

The Philippine military says 57 people, including 26 soldiers, have been killed in clashes between government troops and militants on the country's volatile southern island of Jolo.

Military officials said Friday fighting broke out Thursday when rebels from the Abu Sayyaf militant group and Moro National Liberation Front fighters ambushed a group of soldiers transporting supplies.

At least 31 rebels have been killed in the fighting.

The clashes are the latest in a recent wave of violence in the southern Philippines and more troops are being deployed to respond to the surge in violence.

Troops have been massing in the south since early July when 14 marines were killed on the nearby island of Basilan. Ten of them were beheaded.

Abu Sayyaf is aligned with al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, and their goals are the same - to impose Islamic rule over their dominion. They've used the Phillipine archipelago for shelter from military action, and engage in piracy, kidnapping, and sabotage in addition to ambushing military forces arrayed against them.