Marwan is dead, says FBI

David Bowdich: Results do support that the biological sample provided by Philippine authorities came from Marwan (inset). AFP FILE PHOTO OF DAVID BOWDICH

MANILA, Philippines–Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” is dead, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday night.

In a statement sent to the Inquirer, David Bowdich, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said tests showed the DNA sample sent by the Philippine government belonged to Marwan.

“Although the results of the DNA examinations do not provide absolute identification, the results do support that the biological sample provided by Philippine authorities came from Marwan,” Bowdich said.

He said there was need for further tests and analysis by laboratory examiners “in an effort to fully identify the subject of DNA provided to the FBI.”

The government learned about the results of the DNA tests on Wednesday morning, a ranking government official told the Inquirer.

At press time, there were scant details how the FBI informed the Aquino administration of the positive identification of Marwan, a Malaysian-born bomb expert who had a $6-million price on his head.

“Yes, it’s true. The US has confirmed it’s Marwan,” said the source on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to speak to the media.

Members of the Special Action Force (SAF), the US-trained police commandos of the Philippine National Police, killed Marwan in the operation launched before dawn on Jan. 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province. Marwan’s Filipino deputy, Abdul Basit Usman, who carries a $3-million price on his head, escaped.

Unable to bring Marwan’s body, the SAF troopers took photos of the slain terrorist and cut off the index finger of his right hand for DNA testing. The finger was sent to the FBI for lab tests. One military source, however, said the testing was done in Singapore and was completed on Saturday, five days after the encounter.

Sources said the DNA sample provided by the Philippine government matched with DNA from Marwan’s brother Rahmat Abhir, who is being held at the US detention center on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

They said Rahmat was arrested in California in 2007 on charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and giving false information to authorities.

With Marwan killed, the SAF operation was successful, but the high death toll among the police commandos ignited widespread public anger, throwing in doubt the peace agreement signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in March last year.

The operation being top secret, the sacked SAF commander, Director Getulio Napeñas, bypassed the ceasefire mechanisms agreed upon by the government and the MILF.

Napeñas said he did not trust the MILF, which was why he kept the operation secret.

He admitted, however, that he was reporting to PNP Director General Alan Purisima, who has been served a suspension order by the Ombudsman stemming from corruption allegations.

Even Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, the PNP officer in charge, were kept out of the loop.

‘We got him’

Even before the result of the test was disclosed, the surviving members of the assault team had expressed confidence they had killed the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia.

“We got him, it is him. We are sure of that,” Senior Insp. Recaredo Marasigan, a member of the team, told the Inquirer.

“Our 44 comrades did not die in vain. They were courageous and they fought well until their last breath. If the DNA test yielded negative, then this is what we will do. We will make a plan again and we will still go again to Maguindanao or to whichever place he is hiding.”

Marasigan is one of the 392 SAF officers and men who volunteered for the highly covert operation.

The 38-member assault team (37 according to an earlier report) was able to move undetected until the first shots were fired from the nipa hut where the commandos had cornered Marwan.

“It is not within my authority to talk about who gave the orders but even if this was a mission that was an order from the top, what the public needs to know is that we were all volunteers. We all volunteered to be there. Many of us could have stayed behind but we were all committed to tackle the mission as one command. That’s how committed everyone was,” Marasigan said.

An intelligence researcher and analyst, Marasigan received and prepared all the intelligence information from the field.

Real-time intel

Knowledge of the operation included information about the target, identified as combined forces of the MILF and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

The information on the ground as explained by Marasigan was so precise that it included information on the river channels, the number of houses in the area—four where Marwan was hiding plus 12 others within the 500-meter-to-1-kilometer radius of the targeted hut—and the exact number of enemy forces.

“We studied the enemy, the people, the terrain. We knew the names of every commander and where they were and we knew that, all in all, there were 1,009 forces in the area,” Marasigan said.

The SAF commandos even brought with them floaters and ropes because aerial shots of the target area showed three river channels in the area.

“We were able to enter undetected. They only knew that we were there when it became positive that Marwan had been killed. Marwan was still in the hut when many of them responded. Right there, we lost 11 men,” Marasigan said.

The assault team also had “real-time intelligence.” Marasigan cited this as a big factor why they proceeded with the mission. “The source of the real-time intelligence is both technical and human,” he said.

The enemy response was just enormous, according to Marasigan, explaining the heavy loss of SAF lives.

“We were not able to leave the area at once because of the sudden massing of the enemy forces. Their response was swift. About 500-800 meters separated us. The blocking force pinned us down,” he said.

Asked what happened to the other SAF forces in the area and why they were not able to reinforce the assault teams, Marasigan said: “I don’t know what happened to our troops on the highway. What I know is what happened to our team and the team that was slaughtered. They died as true warriors. It’s my honor to have fought alongside those men.”

Rigid training

The rigid training and preparation for getting Marwan began as early as January 2014, Marasigan said.

The original date of assault based on “Oplan Wolverine” was in December 2014. Many of the troops thought they would not be able to spend Christmas with their families. Then the opportunity came in January this year and the operation was launched, he said.

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