[Reuters] The Philippines' most wanted terrorist, who escaped after a raid last January that killed 44 elite police commandos, was killed on Sunday in gun battle with Moro militants.Presidential communications secretary Herminio "Sonny" Coloma said in a statement, "(Abdul) Basit Usman was killed in a firefight in Guindulungan, Maguindanao at around noon today. Usman was the second target of the operations conducted by the PNP-SAF to capture Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan last January 25."
The two terrorists were blamed for a series of bombings in the southern Philippines. Both had links with the defunct Jemaah Islamiyah and carried a combined $6 million bounty from the U.S. State Department.
Coloma gave no other details of the firefight, but security officials said Usman and five others were killed near a creek in Muti village.