‘Intel shows foreign terrorists arriving in Mindanao’

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — A ranking local official yesterday revealed reports of Arabs and other foreign militants arriving in Sulu and other areas in southern Philippines.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Mujiv Hataman cited the information gathered during a meeting with Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

Hataman said he is revealing the intelligence information to make the public aware of the threat posed by foreign terrorists coming to Sulu and parts of Central Mindanao.

Hataman came out with the information after authorities said a couple of Indonesian suicide bombers was behind the attack of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu last Jan. 27.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said five of the suspects in the bombing are now in custody.

One of them, Kammah Pae alias Kamah, reportedly escorted the unidentified Indonesian couple in Sulu after they arrived from an island near Basilan on Jan. 21, a week before the bombing attack.

The couple met with Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, the leader of Ajang-Ajang, a subgroup of the Abu Sayyaf, in Patikul where they hatched the plan to bomb the cathedral in Jolo. 

The bombing killed more than 20 people, including responding soldiers, and injured over a hundred others.

Officials said the bombers used pipe bombs, the same type of explosives recovered in Mohammad Ajul sometime in May 2016 when troops cleared out two barangays from the occupation of Abu Sayyaf leader Ustadz Abbas Alam and Malaysian bomb expert Mohammad Najib alias Anas. The two were killed in subsequent military operations.