FBI confirms Malaysian terrorist Marwan dead (Photo : Twitter)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has recently confirmed that the Malaysian bomb maker known as Marwan was killed during a raid in the Philippines in January.
Marwan, whose real name is Zulkifili bin Hir, was believed to be a part of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah's central command.
Authorities said in February that a DNA sample, which is understood to be from a severed finger, was taken from a man who was killed in a raid in southern Philippines exhibited a relation to a known relative of Marwan.
However, the FBI now says that the tests conducted have confirmed that the dead man was actually the wanted Islamic extremist.
In a statement, the FBI's Los Angeles field offic eassistant directorin charge of David Bowdich told CNN that the FBI has assessed that terrorism subject Marwan is "deceased and has been removed from the FBI's list of Most Wanted Terrorists" following a "thorough review of forensic data and information" obtained from their law enforcement partners in the Philippines.
A reward of $5 million had been offered by the FBI to whoever could give significant information that would lead to the capture of Marwan in the wake of his 2007 indictment on terror charges in California court.
He was accused of being a supplier of IEDs to terrorist organizations, and having conducted bomb making training for other terror groups-which includes the Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf.
Before the official confirmation, Marwan had previously been falsely reported dead after a raid by Philippine security forces in 2012, according to The Star Online.
The Philippines is currently undergoing and fighting insurgency in the predominantly Muslim south for years. In 2014, however, a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)-the largest rebel group in the region-was signed.
Despite of the peace agreement, a surprise raid in pursuit of Marwan at Mamasapano, in the southern province of Maguindanao, was launched in January. The mission was a disaster, living 44 members of Special Action Force (SAF) dead.
