US-designated ‘global terrorist’ woman arrested in Sulu

MANILA, Philippines — A woman classified as a “specially designated global terrorist” by the United States for her involvement in international terror groups was arrested at dawn yesterday in Indanan, Sulu.

Myrna Ajilul Mabanza, 32, was apprehended at 5:50 a.m. after she was traced hiding in Barangay Pasil in Indanan, said Zamboanga City police chief Col. Alexander Lorenzo.

Mabanza, a former teacher, is allegedly associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and al-Qaeda, acting as a financial conduit with the terrorist groups. The United Nations Security Council also listed her for being associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIL or Daesh.

She has a standing warrant of arrest for five counts of violations to Republic Act 10168 (Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012) and RA 11479 (Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020) issued by a court in Zamboanga City. No bail is recommended for her release.

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. said her arrest is a big blow to the operations of terrorist groups.

According to Lorenzo, Mabanza is the eldest sister of suspected bomber Omar Mabanza who was arrested in a raid on Feb. 17, 2023 in his hideout in Sitio Sapa Dulian, Barangay Calabasa, Zamboanga City.

Police intelligence dossiers showed that the elder Mabanza was involved in the transfer of up to $107,000 dollars with then Southeast Asia ISIS emir and Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon in January 2016. In the succeeding months, Mabanza served as an intermediary between Hapilon and ISIS elements in Syria.

The dossier also showed that she helped facilitate in April 2016 the travel of an Indonesian-based terror group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah representative from Indonesia to the Philippines to meet Hapilon in Basilan. The JAD representative came to the country to buy arms for the ISIS-linked faction in Indonesia and to arrange the training courses of pro-ISIS recruits from Indonesia.

During that time, Hapilon reportedly agreed to the plan and trained the recruits in a camp in southern Philippines on firearms use and basic bomb making.

Elite police teams – including the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Zamboanga City criminal investigation and counterterrorism division – quickly transported Mabanza under tight security using a Maritime Police speedboat from Sulu to Zamboanga.

A faction of the Moro National Liberation Front also helped in her arrest.