February 5, 2012, The Philippine Star, AFP locating bodies of Sayyaf, JI leaders, by Roel Pareño,

February 5, 2012, The Philippine Star, AFP locating bodies of Sayyaf, JI leaders, by Roel Pareño,

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines –Government security forces have mounted intelligence tracking to locate the possible sites where Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members buried their leaders believed to have been killed in the airstrike Thursday in Sulu province, the military said yesterday.

Western Mindanao Command spokesman Lt. Col. Randolf Cabangbang said troops did not recover any remains of the slain bandits, including two JI leaders, Zulkipli bin Abdul Hir alias Marwan and Muhamda Ali alias Muawiya, and Abu Sayyaf leader Gumbahali Jumdail alias Dr. Abu Pula, a founding leader of the terror group.

"The main effort right now is on intelligence to track down the location of the gravesites where the surviving members buried their leaders," Cabangbang said.

Marwan was a US-educated Malaysian engineer and a top leader of JI. He also formed a terrorist group in Malaysia, the Kumpulun Mujahidin Malaysia.

Marwan coordinated closely with the Abu Sayyaf as its top trainer in bomb making, and he was a close associate of Umar Patek, a JI leader arrested in Abbottabad in Pakistan, a few months before the raid on top terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

Marwan was on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted list with a $5-million bounty on his head.

Jumdail, on the other hand, was believed to be responsible for multiple kidnappings, beheadings, and atrocious violence around Mindanao.

Ali, meanwhile, was a Singaporean senior leader of JI involved in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.