Another one bites the dust

From Bloomburg.com:

Suspected Bali Bomber Azahari Husin Is Confirmed Dead

Nov. 10 — Indonesian police said fingerprint tests confirmed Azahari Husin, an alleged organizer of the 2002 Bali bombings and one of Indonesia’s two most wanted terrorists, was among those killed in an ambush yesterday in Java.

“The fingerprints match those sent by the Malaysian police,” deputy police spokesman Sunarko Danu Ardanto told reporters in Jakarta today.

Indonesian authorities suspect Azahari and fellow Malaysian Noordin Mohammad Top organized attacks in Indonesia including Bali that killed more than 240 people. Azahari and Top are suspected members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda, which analysts say probably carried out yesterday’s attacks in Jordan that left 57 dead.

One other person, not two as earlier thought, died when bombs went off as security forces yesterday tried to storm the house where Azahari was staying in Malang in East Java, police spokesman Aryanto Danang Budiarjo said earlier. The other body is believed to be a man called Arman, who is wanted by police. The police found 30 bombs inside the house, Police Chief Sutanto said.

Just who is Azahari?  This should give you a clue:

Known as the “Demolition Man” for his expertise with explosives, Azahari bin Husin was a key figure in Jemaah Islamiyah, a terror network with links to al-Qaida that has been blamed for a series of deadly bombings as well as failed plots in Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore.

The discovery of the bombs indicated Jemaah Islamiyah was preparing more attacks.

The bombs included small devices easily contained in backpacks _ similar to ones used in the July London Underground attacks and in last month’s suicide strikes on three crowded restaurants on the resort island of Bali, said police chief Gen. Sutanto.

He came to an appropriate end:

Police initially said Azahari blew himself up Wednesday to avoid capture when his hide-out in east Java province was raided, but Sutanto said Thursday he was shot as he reached to detonate his suicide belt. Another militant set off the device, sparking a massive explosion that ripped off the roof of their rented house.

Too bad for the owner of the house unless he knew what was going on in the house.

I’d prefer we had better options but killing and/or capturing the older ones does seem to be the only viable options we have.  On the younger ones I suspect capitalism, porn, gambling, and booze might be an effective weapon.

Update: Details on the raid and how they found him are now available: 

An elite FBI-trained police counter-terrorism unit, known as Detachment 88, encircled the Flamboyan housing complex in Batu.

According to the Paras Indonesia website, the police, using a loud-hailer, ordered the occupants of the house to come out and surrender.

Instead, those inside opened fire and threw up to 11 explosive devices. Detikcom online news reported that an exchange of fire between the two sides began at about 3.30pm (4.30pm Singapore time) and was followed by the two explosions at about 3.45pm, after which thick black smoke billowed from the house.

 

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