CONFISCATED. Maj. Rexor Jake Canoy, city police office spokesperson, presents to the media an anti-personnel mine and related materials, handgun, bullets and black flag of the Islamic State seized in a raid in Barangay Bawing, General Santos City at dawn on Tuesday (Sept. 17, 2019). Arrested during the operation was an alleged member of the local terrorist group Ansar Al-Khilafa Philippines identified as Jomar Maan. (PNA photo by Richelyn Gubalani)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Police operatives arrested an alleged member of the Islamic-State-inspired local terrorist group and recovered an anti-personnel mine (APM) in a raid in a village here at dawn on Tuesday.
Maj. Peter Pinalgan, chief of the city police’s intelligence branch, identified the suspect as Jomar Maan alias “Potpot”, 22, who was tagged as a follower of the late Ansar Al-Khilafa Philippines (AKP) founder Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, alias commander “Tokboy”.
Pinalgan said the suspect was nabbed during a search operation at his home in Purok Upper London, Barangay Bawing at past 4 a.m.
Recovered at the scene were an APM and various bomb-making materials, a caliber .38 revolver with three live bullets, and a black emblem with markings of the Islamic State (IS), he said.
Pinalgan said they earlier received a tip regarding the presence of the suspect in the area allegedly in possession of loose firearms and explosives.
He said they validated the information and eventually secured a search warrant from the Regional Trial Court Branch 35, through Executive Judge Oscar Noel.
“It (information) turned out positive based on our validation and the subsequent operation,” he said in an interview.
Maj. Rexor Jake Canoy, city police office spokesperson, said they were still determining the components of the APM and other materials seized from the suspect.
Canoy did not say whether the explosive was intended for a planned attack in the area but noted the city had long been a target of terrorist groups.
“We were able to preempt these threats with the arrest of Maan,” he said in a media briefing.
The AKP has been tagged as behind a string of terror attacks here and the neighboring areas since 2008, including the bombing in front of a lying-in clinic here in September last year that injured eight people.
The attack was reportedly carried out by remnants of the AKP, who took over the group after its leader, Tokboy Maguid, was slain in an encounter with police operatives in Kiamba, Sarangani province, in January 2017.
In an interview, Maan acknowledged that he joined the group when he was just 17 years old while residing in Barangay Daliao, Maasim town in Sarangani.
However, he maintained that he only served as an errand boy and cook for the group, which originated in the same village.
Maan said he eventually carried a handgun supposedly on orders from Maguid.
“I only joined the group because he (Tokboy) threatened my family,” he said in the vernacular.
The suspect was placed under the custody of the city police intelligence branch and was to be charged with possession of explosive, illegal firearm and ammunition.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1080638
Maj. Peter Pinalgan, chief of the city police’s intelligence branch, identified the suspect as Jomar Maan alias “Potpot”, 22, who was tagged as a follower of the late Ansar Al-Khilafa Philippines (AKP) founder Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, alias commander “Tokboy”.
Pinalgan said the suspect was nabbed during a search operation at his home in Purok Upper London, Barangay Bawing at past 4 a.m.
Recovered at the scene were an APM and various bomb-making materials, a caliber .38 revolver with three live bullets, and a black emblem with markings of the Islamic State (IS), he said.
Pinalgan said they earlier received a tip regarding the presence of the suspect in the area allegedly in possession of loose firearms and explosives.
He said they validated the information and eventually secured a search warrant from the Regional Trial Court Branch 35, through Executive Judge Oscar Noel.
“It (information) turned out positive based on our validation and the subsequent operation,” he said in an interview.
Maj. Rexor Jake Canoy, city police office spokesperson, said they were still determining the components of the APM and other materials seized from the suspect.
Canoy did not say whether the explosive was intended for a planned attack in the area but noted the city had long been a target of terrorist groups.
“We were able to preempt these threats with the arrest of Maan,” he said in a media briefing.
The AKP has been tagged as behind a string of terror attacks here and the neighboring areas since 2008, including the bombing in front of a lying-in clinic here in September last year that injured eight people.
The attack was reportedly carried out by remnants of the AKP, who took over the group after its leader, Tokboy Maguid, was slain in an encounter with police operatives in Kiamba, Sarangani province, in January 2017.
In an interview, Maan acknowledged that he joined the group when he was just 17 years old while residing in Barangay Daliao, Maasim town in Sarangani.
However, he maintained that he only served as an errand boy and cook for the group, which originated in the same village.
Maan said he eventually carried a handgun supposedly on orders from Maguid.
“I only joined the group because he (Tokboy) threatened my family,” he said in the vernacular.
The suspect was placed under the custody of the city police intelligence branch and was to be charged with possession of explosive, illegal firearm and ammunition.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1080638
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.