For the second time in as many months, Indonesian police say they have successfully killed former mathematics teacher and terrorist mastermind Noordin Top. Police killed four in the raid against a small house, and shot a pregnant woman who was living at the house. Top is believed to be one of the slain, but DNA tests have yet to confirm this.
Top was also reported slain by police in an early August raid on a mud house in a remote village. The nearly headless body found in the bathroom of the house turned out to be a florist, however, though police maintain that the florist was probably a pretty intense terrorist in his own right.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praised the latest killing, saying this time Top’s death would cause serious harm to the Jemaah Islamiah movement to which he is linked.
Top has been accused of a myriad of attacks in Indonesia, including July’s bombing of two hotels in Jakarta. He has been a member of the FBI’s “War on Terrorism” list since February of 2006.