PNP: Slain ASG members in Paranaque involved in 2019 Jolo Cathedral bombing
Mindanao Armed Conflict • 18:45 PM Sat Jun 27, 2020
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By:
Jerome Fortaleza), special reprot to ndbcnews.com.ph
An ISIS flag is among the paraphernalia recovered from an anti-terror operation in Parañaque City on Friday (June 26, 2020).
MANILA – The suspected Abu Sayyaf members slain in police operations in Paranaque City Friday dawn were part of the group that plotted and implemented the Jolo Cathedral Bombing on January 2019.
Police Major General Debold Sinas, regional director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said the suspects were actually planning to carry out bombings in Metro Manila but failed to push the plot due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Sinas identified them as:
> Merhama Abdul Sawari, alias “Mheng,” female, 40-45 years old
> Bensaudi Sali, alias “Boy” or “Bhenz,” male, 37 years old
> Rasmin Hussin, alias “Boscon,” male
>Jamal Kalimming, alias “Pando,” male
The Parañaque City police, backed by the military were to search the suspects’ house in Better Living Subdivision, Barangay Don Bosco, at around 12:26 am when one of the suspects fired at the law enforcers, triggering a fire fight.
Sinas said one of the suspects attempted to toss a hand grenade toward the police but it went off prematurely, injuring them.
The police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team barged inside the house then rushed the four suspects to the Ospital ng Paranaque. They were pronounced dead on arrival.
A member of the raiding team, Police Corporal Ehrol Gamboa of NCRPO was wounded on both legs.
Police intelligence reports showed the suspects, particularly Sawari and Sali, were members of the “Daulah Islamiyah Financial Conduit.”
“Daulah Islamiyah (DI)” is Arabic for “Islamic State.”
DI is the ISIS-affiliated faction of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) under sub-leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan.
Sawari was receiving financial for the Abu Sayyaf Group operation in Sulu from Indonesian terrorist Yoga Fabrianto.
Fabrianto, arrested in Sabah in June last year, helped plotted the Jolo cathedral bombing.
Sinas said the three males worked as security guards to legalize their stay in Metro Manila. (Jerome Fortaleza)