Dulmatin may have been killed in the Philippines
Dulmatin may have been killed in the Philippines
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Friday that his
office was seeking confirmation of reports that Dulmatin, a key
terror suspect, was among those believed killed in air strikes by
the Philippines military.
"I will ask my staff about this information. I have not
received any reports about it yet," he said after Friday prayers
at the National Police headquarter, Jakarta.
However, Da'i confirmed that Dulmatin had left Indonesia and
that the fugitive might have traveled out of the country through
Kalimantan or Sulawesi.
Earlier on Friday, the Philippines military said air strikes
on a suspected meeting of regional Al-Qaeda-linked group leaders
left 40 dead, including possibly two top Indonesian members of
the Jamaah Islamiyah terror group.
The military said, however, that it was yet to recover a
single body from the marshy area in southern Mindanao that it
attacked on Thursday, targeting leaders from regional militant
and separatist groups.
"Based on radio intercepts, we learned that 40 rebels were
killed including two ranking JI leaders," said Mindanao military
chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza, quoted by AFP.
He said the guerrillas had dragged their dead away, making it
difficult to say how many were actually killed.
Col. Gerry Jalandoni, the commander of the military forces on
the ground, was quoted as saying that it was difficult to confirm
the death toll because of conditions on the ground.
He added that local residents had reported five people killed
including a man believed to be an Indonesian. "It's really very
hard (to verify). The area is still very hostile. What we've got
are all reports coming from locals," Jalandoni said.
The Philippines military had earlier said three JI members
were meeting at the site, among them Dulmatin, who was believed
to have been involved in the deadly October 2002 bombing on the
resort island of Bali. The other two Indonesians were identified
as Maruan and Mauyha.
Da'i said the Indonesian police have placed a liaison officer
in the Philippines and that he would expect him to report soon on
the reported death of Dulmatin.
If the report was confirmed, the police would use the
information to continue the hunt for other fugitives in
cooperation with other nations, he added.
Sydney Jones, of the International Crisis Group, told AP that
aside from Dulmatin, Umar Patek was among the chief targets of an
air strike by the Philippine military, carried out in November
last year.