SECURITY forces continue to scour Mindanao in search of the remaining foreign terrorists believed to be still lurking in the region and who may be waiting for the opportune moment to carry out terrorism activities.
While the overall security situation in the region may have already improved, the condition, authorities reported, remains fluid, unless the government neutralizes about 10 foreign nationals who are remnants of the Islamic State (IS) who managed to enter the country at the height, or even before, the war in Marawi City broke out in 2017.
Survivors
At a news briefing on Thursday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the remnants of the IS survived the bloody military operations in the city almost two years ago and are now mostly holed up in camps of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Western Mindanao.
The surviving foreign fighters are composed of various nationalities that included Indonesians, Malaysians and Pakistanis.
“It’s a mixture of nationalities,” said Año, who was the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines when the Marawi siege broke out on May 23, 2017.
The government said that at least 40 foreign fighters who are members of the IS slipped into the country and joined their local counterparts during the battle that raged for more than five months.
Año said half of the number has been killed during the battle, or even during the succeeding operations that were carried out by the military in various parts of Mindanao after the city was liberated.
Coddlers
On January 27, an Indonesian couple detonated bombs at the Jolo Cathedral in Sulu, killing themselves along with 21 people. The suicide bombings, which also wounded 95 others, were owned by the IS.
A Yemeni bomb expert involved in the twin bombings is still being hunted by the government. The foreigner slipped into the country more than a year ago and is believed to be married to a Tausug woman.
Año said the Yemeni is being harbored and accorded protection by the group of Hatib Hadjan Sawadjaan, leader of the Ajang-ajang group of the Abu Sayyaf, which was involved in Jolo’s deadly bombings.
Blind spot
“This guy, he is a trained suicide bomber,” Año said of the Yemeni. “But we haven’t monitored any of their plans, unlike [in] the [case of the] Jolo Cathedral, which was really monitored even before the attack,” he said.
Two weeks ago, the military carried out a strategic strike on Sawadjaan’s group in Barangay Latih, Patikul, Sulu, but the elusive leader of the ASG—known for his involvement in previous high-profile kidnappings—escaped the attack.
Sawadjaan’s deputy, Idang Susukan, was reportedly badly wounded during the operation.
Military offensives
In Central Mindanao, the military also bombed the IS-affiliated faction of the Bangsamoro Islamic Liberation Front led by Abu Toraife, killing several of his fighters while ground forces captured the group’s camp in Maguindanao.
The attack on Sulu’s cathedral was the second case of suicide bombing attributed to foreign terrorists, for both of which the IS claimed responsibility.
In July last year, a Moroccan driving a bomb-laden vehicle that was on its way to a feeding program in the center of Lamitan in Basilan detonated himself near a military detachment at the city’s approach, triggering a powerful explosion that killed government forces.
Año said the 10 foreign fighters are hiding in Patikul, Sulu, and are the subjects of extensive military operations.
“They are providing support, advice to the local ASG because they are affiliated with IS but are not necessarily suicide bombers,” he said.
Año said operations to find the 10-year-old daughter of the Indonesian couple were also continuing, as she holds the key to unraveling the complete identities of the two bombers.
DNA factor
Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said DNA samples of the child, once taken, will be compared with the shreds of body parts lifted from the scenes.
All of the victims in the explosions have been identified and body parts have also been claimed, except for some unidentical body pieces of a man and a woman, whom authorities said may belong to the two bombers.
Año said the daughter was entrusted to members of the ASG in Patikul, Sulu.
Meanwhile, as authorities continue to seach for the child, they are in a race against time to find the IS members believed to be holed up still in the mountains. While they remain free, no one can ever be safe.
Image credits: Garudeya | Dreamstime.com, Wesmincom Armed Forces of the Philippines via AP/Bullit Marquez