Exclusive: FBI says it had no prior knowledge of Philippine raid that killed 50 police

Reuters

Published Jan 31, 2015 03:28PM ET

Exclusive: FBI says it had no prior knowledge of Philippine raid that killed 50 police

By Julia Edwards

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI had no prior knowledge of a police raid in the Philippines last Sunday to arrest wanted militants that went awry and left more than 50 police dead, an FBI spokesman told Reuters on Saturday.

Philippine media had reported that the FBI helped orchestrate the raid, which targeted Zulkifli bin Hir, an Islamic militant on the U.S. law enforcement agency's list of "most-wanted terrorists."