ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Ground troops are coordinating with community leaders and local government officials for information on the whereabouts of foreign terrorists in Mindanao.
Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Western Mindanao Command chief, said Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Noel Clement ordered pursuit operations against the remaining foreign terrorists being coddled by Abu Sayyaf bandits.
Clement issued the directive after DNA tests confirmed the identities of three Egyptian terrorists recently killed in Sulu.
Forensic tests conducted by the Davao regional police office showed a 99.99 percent match on the tissue samples of Reda Mohammad Mahmud, who blew herself up near a military checkpoint in Indanan on Sept. 8, and her son Abdurahmil, who was killed in a firefight with soldiers at an Army checkpoint, also in Indanan, on Nov. 5.
Abdurahmil’s DNA sample did not match with Baker al Seddik Barakat, alias Abduracman, who along with a Filipino identified only as James were also killed in the Nov. 5 encounter.
The military had earlier reported that Abdurahmil is the son of Barakat.
The terrorists were reportedly with the group of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan.
Sobejana said results of the DNA tests confirm that foreign militants are training local terrorists on suicide bombing.
Maj. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., Joint Task Force Sulu commander, said reports indicated that Reda was involved in bomb attacks on churches in Egypt in 2017 that left 47 people dead and 126 others wounded.