FBI confirms death of top Malaysian militant

MANILA: The FBI confirmed Thursday that a senior Malaysian militant believed to have been involved in the 2002 Bali bombings was killed in a January raid in the Philippines that also left 44 police commandos dead.
Zulkifli Abdhir, who was on the bureau’s most-wanted list with a $5-million reward on his head, was killed in the January 25 operation that plunged President Benigno Aquino’s administration into crisis and jeopardized efforts to end a decades-long separatist insurgency, the FBI said.
“After a thorough review of forensic data and information obtained from our Philippine law enforcement partners, the FBI has assessed that terrorism subject, Zulkifli Abdhir, also known as “Marwan,” is deceased and has been removed from the FBI’s list of Most Wanted Terrorists,” the FBI Los Angeles office said in a statement.
The national police said the confirmation “validates” their earlier insistence that the botched raid, which caused Aquino’s approval rating to tumble to its lowest level since he took office in 2010, was a success despite the huge death toll.