Malacañang: Basit Usman, other target in Mamasapano, finally killed in clash

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Malacañang confirmed on Sunday night, May 3, that Filipino terror suspect Basit Usman is now dead

It has been three months since Usman escaped the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) attack in Mamasapano, where fellow Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, also in FBI’s Most Wanted List, was killed.

Abdul Basit Usman was killed in a remote mountainous area while being escorted by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the nation’s biggest rebel group, its vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar said.

The Philippine government’s communications secretary, Sonny Coloma, revealed that Usman was killed in a firefight in Guindulungan, Maguindanao, at around noon on Sunday. “Usman was the second target of the operations conducted by the PNP-SAF to capture Zulkifli bin Hir (alias Marwan) in Mamasapano last January 25. We are awaiting the submission of the AFP’s after-operations report which is forthcoming,” he said.

Two foreigner colleagues of Usman were also said to be killed in the clash. Officials said that the death of Usman and the arrest of several key leaders have further weakened splinter groups such as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

“We can confirm that Usman is dead and his body was buried in accordance with Muslim tradition,” Jaafar told Agence France-Presse, but he refused to say who killed him.

Security forces accuse Usman of carrying out at least nine bombing incidents in the south, including an attack in the port city of General Santos in 2002 that killed 15 people and wounded 60 others.

The US State Department’s website describes him as “a bomb-making expert with links to the Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf Group terrorist organisations” leading him to be considered a threat to American and Filipino citizens and interests.

Photo: Gov.ph