Alleged bomber nabbed in GenSan

From MindaNews (Dec 20): Alleged bomber nabbed in GenSan

Police operatives arrested here on Wednesday night a suspected member of an Islamic State-inspired local terrorist cell, foiling an alleged bombing plot in the area.

Chief Supt. Eliseo Tam Rasco, regional director of the Police Regional Office-12, said Thursday suspect Jamio Sala alias Jamiung and Jum Jum was nabbed in a joint law enforcement operation at round 7:30 p.m. Wednesday along Osmena Street in Barangay Dadiangas East here.

The operating team was composed of elements from the Philippine National Police Intelligence Group’s Counter Terrorism Division and Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU)-12, Regional Intelligence Division-12 and the city police’s intelligence branch.

Rasco said the suspect was arrested by virtue of Martial Law Arrest Order No. 2 issued by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in June last year.

He said the suspect, who yielded a fragmentation grenade, was reportedly a close associate of commander Salahudin Hassan of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Hassan was among the BIFF leaders and members who were charged over the twin bomb attacks in Isulan town, Sultan Kudarat last Aug. 28 and Sept. 2 that killed five people and injured more than 40 others.

“He (Sala) was tasked to lead a team that will conduct bombing operations in the city during the Yuletide season,” the police official said.

Citing a report from RIU-12 head, Supt. Christopher Bermudez, Rasco said Sala was a member of the defunct Ansar Al-Kihilafa Philippines (AKP) terror group and involved in a string of terror attacks in the area since 2008.

He said the suspect was among the former henchmen of the late AKP leader Mohammad Jaafar Maguid alias commander Tokboy, who was slain in an encounter with police operatives in Kiamba, Sarangani Province in January 2017.

Sala was among the AKP members who were charged over the daring August 2008 raid on the municipal hall of Maasim, Sarangani.

He was also tagged as involved in the April 26, 2010 roadside bombing in Malapatan town that targeted the convoy of then Sarangani Gov. Miguel Rene Dominguez and the Sept. 16, 2014 blast infront of the city hall here.

He was among the suspects in the grenade attack near the Maasim police station on June 20, 2016 that killed a police officer and injured several others.

He reportedly took part in the foiled bombing on Dec. 16, 2016 during the Christmas tree lighting at the municipal plaza of Kiamba.

http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2018/12/alleged-bomber-nabbed-in-gensan/