BY AARON RECUENCO
Police intelligence operatives have arrested an alleged trusted aide of top Dawlah Islamiya Philippine contact Mudzrimar “Mundi” Sawadjaan who was tagged in at least two suicide bombings in Mindanao, including the Jolo Cathedral blasts that left more than 21 people dead and at least 100 other churchgoers wounded in 2019.
Police said bomb expert Hashim Saripada, who uses the alias Ibnu Kashir Saripada, was collared in Barangay Recodo in Zamboanga City at around 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said the operation stemmed from a tip-off that Saripada was spotted in Zamboanga City last week. Saripada is facing cases of multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder.
The charges stemmed from his alleged involvement in the July 2018 bombing of a military detachment in Lamitan City that left 11 people dead and several other people wounded.
The bombing was carried out by Moroccan suicide bomber Abu Kathir Al-Maghribi using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), but it was Saripada who allegedly planned and prepared the bombs used.
It was Saripada who allegedly facilitated Al-Maghribi’s travel from Sulu to Basilan.
Likewise, Saripada and Mundi Sawadjaan reportedly prepared the improvised explosive device (IED) detonated by an Indonesia couple at the Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu on January 27, 2019 that killed at least 21 people and wounded more than 100 other churchgoers.
Brig. Gen. Edgar Monsalve, director of the PNP’s Intelligence Group (IG), said Saripada left Basilan after the military detachment suicide bombing and hid in an island in Sulu. He was then tapped by Sawadjaan for the Jolo Cathedral blast.
He immediately left Jolo after the twin suicide bombings.
“We are now conducting interrogation to extract information from him with regard to past activities and other plans,” said Monsalve.
Cascolan, for his part, said the arrest of Saripada is a big blow to the operation of local terrorists based in Sulu.
“He is a top assistant of Sawadjaan and with his arrest, most of all the terrorism activities they plan will no longer push through,” said Cascolan.
Sawadjaan was also linked to the suicide bombings last month in downtown Jolo that left at least 15 people dead and more than 75 other wounded. Some of those killed and wounded were policemen and soldiers.
On September 12, police intelligence operatives also arrested an alleged recruiter for Dawlah Islmiya in Metro Manila in a raid in Quezon City. (Aaron Recuenco)
