As was the case with Baitullah Mehsud’s death, the jihadist ideology remains and, left unaddressed for what it is as a part of Islamic tradition, will continue to spawn more like Mehsud and Top. What these operations do offer are opportunities to gather evidence and data, and to disrupt jihadist networks while they are surprised and disoriented. “Indonesia police kill man suspected to be Noordin: source,” from Reuters, August 7:
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian police have shot dead a man suspected to be fugitive Islamic militant Noordin Mohammad Top during raids in Central Java and were trying to identify his body, a police source said on Saturday.
Separately, police found five bombs during another raid on a house in Bekasi near the capital Jakarta, the source who is close to the investigation told Reuters.