Malaysian terror suspect killed in Davao

Bomb threat: SWAT members examining the explosive device in Davao city.

DAVAO: A 26-year-old Malaysian, suspected to be a member of the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), was shot dead in southern Philippines after he threatened to set off a backpack bomb in a stand-off with local police.
The suspect, Mohd Noor Fikrie Abd Kahar from Kedah, was killed in Davao city on Friday night after he threatened to blow up an explosive device in a rucksack.
Davao city police chief Senior Supt Ronald dela Rosa who identified Mohd Noor Fikrie based on a Malaysian-issued passport on him, said his Filipina wife, Annabel Nieva Lee, a native of Sorsogon, was arrested and was being questioned.
Mohd Noor Fikrie, who had checked in with his burqa-clad wife at Sampaquita hotel at Camus Street at about 7pm, was shot dead by the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team at about 10.30pm.

Mohd Noor Fikrie’s passport.

Dela Rosa said that as the couple was checking out of the hotel, the terror suspect tried to grab the backpack containing a homemade bomb from his wife, who is a Muslim convert.
Officers tried to arrest Mohd Noor Fikrie but he broke free and threatened to detonate the device.
“You want the bomb? You want the bomb? Shoot me! Shoot me! I will explode the bomb,” the police chief quoted Mohd Noor Fikrie as saying.
This prompted officers and people in the hotel lobby to scamper out for safety, dela Rosa said.
Mohd Noor Fikrie and Lee then ran into the street, where they hugged each other as he raised a cellphone, threatening to use it to trigger the bomb.
Mohd Noor Fikrie grabbed the backpack from Lee and ran towards a park full of Friday night revellers. Lee was then arrested by police, dela Rosa added.

The Malaysian exit and Philippine entry immigration stamps in Mohd Noor Fikrie’s passport.

Alert guards locked the park's gate and Mohd Noor Fikrie, still raising his hand that held the cellphone, ran into a packed restaurant where a sniper shot him twice in the chest.
The terror suspect did not immediately fall, so other officers fired at him and killed him, dela Rosa said.
The bomb, which was subsequently defused, was fashioned from a mortar shell, he said.
He said intelligence reports indicated that terrorists planned to explode a bomb in this bustling port city and regional commercial hub on the main southern island of Mindanao.
Officers were led by intelligence agents to the hotel where the couple was staying, dela Rosa said, adding that the agents had received a tip-off from a “very reliable source”.
Police and military explosives experts later used “water disruptor” technique to defuse the bomb, which contained 60mm mortar ammunition.
Mohd Noor Fikrie's remains were taken to a funeral parlour. - Agencies

Source  thestar.com.my