2015/04/07

Reuters April 1, 2015: FBI confirms death of militant with DNA from severed finger

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday it has confirmed that Zulkifli bin Hir, one of its "most wanted terrorists," was killed in a raid in the Philippines in January.

A person familiar with the investigation said the FBI was able to confirm bin Hir's death in part through DNA analysis of a severed finger that Philippine authorities collected from the gruesome scene of a raid that left bin Hir dead.

The finger was transported to the United States where FBI agents compared its DNA to one of bin Hir's siblings and found a link.

Only a finger, and not a full body, was recovered from the scene because of the chaotic aftermath of the raid in which 44 Philippine police commandos were killed when they clashed with Muslim rebels. The raid ended a three-year ceasefire.

The U.S. State Department had offered $5 million for the arrest of bin Hir, a Malaysian member of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah militant group behind numerous bombing attacks in the Philippines. more