PH-born Indonesian hunted over Davao blast - source

From the Philippine News Agency (Sep 6): PH-born Indonesian hunted over Davao blast - source

One of the suspects being hunted by military and police intelligence operatives for last Friday’s terror attack in Davao City is the Philippine-born Indonesian son of a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network, a police intelligence officer disclosed on Tuesday.

“The subject of our operation was an Indonesian who was born in our country and per our information said that he is the one who left the bomb in Davao City last Friday night,” said the Camp Crame-based source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to discuss the matter.

The explosion in Davao killed 14 persons and left dozens more wounded.

However, the source declined to name the suspect because of the ongoing manhunt.

Pressed for more details, the intelligence officer said the suspect was born and raised in Mindanao, which “makes him very familiar of every nook and cranny of Mindanao” and “could complicate our search operation for him.”

He said the subject of the manhunt was trained by JI operatives who sought refuge in Mindanao. The JI is among the terrorist groups once affiliated with Al Qaeda who have recently switched allegiance to the Islamic State.

“He is trained in bomb-making and in fact you can say that he is in the level of Zulkipli Bin Hir alias ‘Marwan’ when it comes to making bombs,” the source said, referring to the Malaysian engineer and JI operative linked to the October 2002 Bali bombing who was killed in controversial “Oplan Exodus” in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on January 25, 2015.

The covert operation turned awry, leading to the deaths of 44 police Special Action Force commandos, 17 fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and at least three civilians in fighting that broke out after Marwan had been killed.

The Davao bombing prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to place the country under a “state of national emergency on account of lawless violence.”

His daughter Sara, the mayor of Davao, has offered a P2-million bounty for the arrest of the suspects in the bombing.

On Monday, Philippine National Police Director General Ronald Dela Rosa said there had been positive developments in their investigation but refused to divulge details except to say they have secured the “physical profile” of the suspects.

Government and security officials said the Abu Sayyaf, the target of an ongoing military offensive in Sulu, was likely responsible for the Davao attack.

http://interaksyon.com/article/132170/ph-born-indonesian-hunted-over-davao-blast---source