10 Oct Planned Bombing to Follow Davao Blast Prevented
Image Source | newsinfo.inquirer.net
“Actually, [the Maute group]have a plan to conduct another bombing 40 days after the Davao bombing. They were supposed to conduct it 40 days after but this was disrupted because they were… they are the same people who will be utilized.”
This was what Army Chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año said, referring to the three suspects who were recently arrested on Friday due to their involvement in the bombing of a night market in Davao City last month which killed 15 individuals and injured more than 65 others.
Image Source | Rappler
The capture of the three suspects namely TJ Tagadaya Macabalang, Musali Mustapha, and Wendel Apostol Facturan last October 4, 2016 at a checkpoint by joint members of the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Cotabato City made the second planned bombing prevented as revealed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) last October 9, 2016, Sunday.
The three Maute group members are also facing standing warrants for other crimes which include the attack of a military detachment in Lanao del Sur, and the raid of a Marawi city jail where it rescued eight fellow Maute Group members, in February and in August, respectively.
Año refused to provide specific details, however, the three suspects said that they were supposed to bomb an area in Mindanao 40 days following the Davao blasts as part of their group’s continued efforts in diverting military focus from the ongoing military offensive versus the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and Sulu.
“That’s [the planned bombing] already unlikely because we already got the people who are going to carry it out,” said Año.
Meanwhile, Año said that the suspects have been cooperative with the military debriefing, “For example, they narrated how they executed the [Davao City] bombing. They planned the bombing about two weeks before, they planned it in Cotabato after the arrival of the bomb they used from Butig, Lanao [del Sur],” adding that once they have secured a warrant against the suspects, they will be getting all of them.
10 other suspects such as the nine Maute Group members and a member of the Ansar al-Khilafah are being pursued.
According to Año, the Davao City bombing was executed by the Maute Group in consultation with Isnilon Hapilon, Abu Sayyaf leader, and with the one with the alias Tokboy of the Ansarul Khilafa Philippines (AKP), a liaison with the Maute Group. “It was meant to ease the pressure and divert the attention, divert the operation being conducted in Sulu and Basilan.”
Año added that the bombing was also an attempt by an Umbrella organization being led by Hapilon to seek recognition from the Islamic State of Iran and Syria (ISIS).
No Comments