The identity of three suspected Islamic State of Iraq and Syria terrorists, all of them family members, who were recently killed in Sulu were finally established by authorities after a series of DNA tests, the military has confirmed.
Major Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, said tests conducted by the Davao Police Regional Office Crime Laboratory showed a 99.99 percent match between the DNA samples of Egyptian Reda Mohammad Mahmud, the abaya-wearing, female suicide bomber who blew herself up in a military detachment in Indanan, Sulu on Sept. 8 and her son, Abduramil.
Abduramil, allegedly a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group under the command of Hajan Sawadjaan, was one of the three suspects killed in an encounter between the ASG and Philippine Army in Indanan, Sulu last Nov. 5.
Meanwhile, DNA tests showed that Abduramil’s DNA sample did not match with another suspected ASG suicide bomber, Baker Al Seddik Barakat, alias “Abduracman.” Abduracman was also killed during the Nov. 5 encounter. A Filipino cohort, identified only as “James,” was also slain in the clash.
That Abduracman and Abduramil’s DNA samples did not match indicated that the former was only the stepfather of the younger suspect, Vinluan said.
Reda, according to Vinluan, was involved in the bombing of churches in Egypt in 2017 where at least 92 people were killed while 252 others were wounded.
“Reda, together with Abduracman and her son, Abduramil, traveled to Mindanao via backdoor channel to seek refuge with the ASG with the help of ISIS connections in Southeast Asia,” Vinluan said, citing additional information from the Sulu police. (Martin Sadongdong)
