A bomb maker and cousin of notorious Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) leader Mudzrimar “Mundi” Sawadjaan was killed on Monday in a firefight with soldiers in Sulu.
Citing a report of the 102nd Infantry Brigade to Joint Task Force Sulu commander Brig. Gen. William Gonzales, Lt. Col. Ronaldo Mateo identified the slain terrorist as Arsibar Sawadjaan.
Mateo, spokesman of the Joint Task Force Sulu, said Sawadjaan was a subleader of the ASG and a cousin of Mudzrimar. He was also a bomb maker for the terrorist group.
According to Mateo, elements of the Army’s 45th Infantry Battalion encountered Sawadjaan and about 40 ASG members at around 9 a.m. in a harboring site of the ASG in Barangay Maligay, Patikul, Sulu, which the soldiers overran.
The group was supposedly led by ASG chieftain Radullan Sahiron and Mudzrimar, the latter having been tagged as one of the brains behind the August 24 twin bombings in Jolo.
Meanwhile, a trusted aide of Mudzrimar was arrested by police intelligence agents in Zamboanga City on Sunday.
National Police chief General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan identified the suspect on Monday as Hashim Saripada, alias Ibnu Kashir Saripada, who was nabbed by operatives of Regional Intelligence Unit 9 and 84th Special Action Company (Seaborne) at Barangay Recodo, Zamboanga City.
Saripada is the subject of a warrant of arrest issued by Judge Danilo M. Bucoy of Regional Trial Court Branch 2 of Isabela, Basilan for murder and multiple frustrated murder.
“Police records indicate Saripada’s key role in the July 31, 2018 bombing of a CAFGU detachment in Sitio Magkawit, Barangay Maganda, Lamitan City, Basilan carried out by Moroccan bomber Abu Kathir Al-Maghribi using a vehicle borne improvised explosive device [VBIED] that resulted to the death of 11 persons,” Cascolan said during a news briefing.
“Investigation revealed that Saripada facilitated Al-Maghribi’s travel from Sulu to Basilan. Likewise, Saripada and Mundi Sawadjaan reportedly prepared the IED detonated by an Indonesian couple at the Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu on January 27, 2019,” he added.