SUSPECTED TERRORIST ARRESTED
Police say suspect is part of Maute group behind thwarted US Embassy bombing
Police have arrested another suspected member of the local terrorist group said to be behind the foiled November 2016 bombing near the United States (US) Embassy in Manila.
Nasip Ibrahim was collared at around 9:15 p.m. on Monday after police noticed a .45 caliber pistol under a table inside his convenience store in Salaam Compound in Barangay Culiat, Quezon City, where he was interviewed on the whereabouts of another suspect.
Ibrahim is the fifth suspect arrested in connection with the bombing attempt.
Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Guillermo Eleazar said that based on prior intelligence information from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Ibrahim is also a member of the Maute group, a local rebel group that has links to international terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis).
Ibrahim allegedly drove the vehicle that transported to Metro Manila the materials used in making the improvised explosive device (IED) used in the foiled attack.
He also allegedly facilitated the accommodation of the group in Park Villa in Quezon City while planning the attack.
Ibrahim will be charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, illegal possession of illegal drugs, and obstruction of justice for concealing a wanted person.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Ronald Dela Rosa said the QCPD Special Operations Unit had gone to Ibrahim’s store in search of Jamil Baja Tawil, a suspected member of Maute group facing charges of illegal possession of firearms.
Tawil, however, was nowhere to be found.
The raiding team recovered from the store a KG 9mm machine pistol, an improvised explosive device (IED) placed in a black sling bag with a detonation system, a .45 calibre pistol and seven heatsealed plastic sachets suspected to be containing methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu).
Four suspects were earlier arrested after the November 28, 2016 foiled bombing attack, namely: Jiaher Guinar, Rayson Kilala, Mohammad Jumao-as, and Elmer Romero.
Dela Rosa said they believed that the Maute group has established a foothold in Metro Manila.
“This discovery leads us to believe that the Maute group has already established presence in Metro Manila. As to what extent, that is the subject of our follow-up investigations and operations,” he said.
He said it also means that the PNP has foiled another terror attack upon the arrest of Ibrahim.
“I am glad that alert operatives of the NCRPO discovered and intercepted in time an improvised explosive device being prepared by the suspects even before it can be delivered to its possible target or used elsewhere,” said Dela Rosa.