One of Asia’s most wanted terrorists was believed to have blown himself up Wednesday to escape capture after security forces attacked his hideout, Indonesian police said.

Azahari bin Husin is reported have killed himself when he was cornered by an elite Indonesian police unit. Two other suspected militants also died in the blast.

If confirmed, Azahari’s death would be major blow to the al-Qaeda-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been targetted by a regional crackdown since the September 11 attacks and the Bali bombing of 2002. Scores of militants have been arrested and thrown in jail.

Azahari, a Malaysian explosives expert accused of masterminding bombings that have killed hundreds of people in Indonesia, has eluded police for years by moving from one rented home to another.

When an elite US-trained police unit moved in on Azahari’s latest hide-out in Malang, a town 850 kilometers (528 miles) east of Jakarta, with snipers stationed on rooftops nearby, he realized it was his last stand, according to General Sutanto, the head of Indonesia's police force.

The suspected terrorists fired on police and let off at least 11 explosions. "The last one, the big one, was a suicide blast. That is the one that killed them," said General Sutanto, adding that police were afraid the house was booby trapped and would wait until it was cleared by the bomb squad tomorrow before retrieving the three corpses. Forensic experts will then run DNA tests on their remains.

"The suspicion is that (Azahari is dead) but we will confirm it tomorrow," he said. Police cordoned off the area late Wednesday. Hundreds of onlookers crowded behind a yellow police tape for a glimpse of the bombed-out villa. White smoke poured from its collapsed roof.

Officials say Azahari, said to be in his 40s, was Jemaah Islamiyah’s key bomb-making expert. Together with fellow Malaysian Noordin Mohamed Top, he is accused of direct involvement in at least four terrorist attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 mostly foreign tourists and the suicide attacks on the same island that claimed 20 lives last month.

Investigators said Wednesday they had identified two of the three suicide bombers from the October attack, but released few other details.

Azahari is believed to have joined Jemaah Islamiyah in the late 1990s and was sent for training in an al-Qaeda camp in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

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