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ZAMBOANGA CITY – Security forces attacked a house in Jolo, Sulu, before dawn on Saturday and arrested three women, including an Indonesian, who are believed to be part of a plot to organize another terrorist attack.
Brig. General William Gonzales, commander of Joint Task Sulu, identified the women as Rezky Fantasya Rullie, an Indonesian, and local Nur-Aina Alihasan and Fatima Sandra Jimlani-Jama.
Gonzales said the three women were detained at the Sulu Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit to document and press charges.
On the basis of a search warrant, the women were arrested after authorities raided at 1:50 a.m. a house in Barangay San Raymundo believed to be owned by one Ben Quirino Yadah, alias Ben Tatoo, deputy leader of Abu Sayyaf.
Ben Tatoo is the husband of Alihasan, also known as Inda Nurhaina, while Jimlani is the wife of another Abu Sayyaf gunman, Jahid Jama.
The Indonesian woman, also known as Cici, is believed to be the daughter of Indonesian couple Rullie Rian Zeke and Ulfah Handayani Saleh who blew themselves up during a mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on January 27, 2019, killing in al less 18 people and injuring 82 others.
According to the Malaysian newspaper Daily Express, the Indonesian couple hatched their plan to bomb the church a month after arriving in the country with the help of Indonesian terrorists Mohamed Ali Suhari, 21, and Marwan Harun, 25, both based in Sabah.
Rezky Fantasya Rullie, also known as Cici —PHOTO COURTESY OF THE JOINT WORKING GROUP PHOTO OF SULU
Cici’s husband
Malaysian authorities believed that the Indonesian couple met Ali and Marwan through Andi Baso, 22, who would later marry Cici, 18.
The army said Andi Baso, also an Indonesian who was an ardent recruiter for Abu Sayyaf in Indonesia and Malaysia, was killed in a shootout with army commandos in Patikul, Sulu, on Aug. 29, five days after the Jolo bombings. August 29. 24 that killed 15 people.
“We have been chasing foreign suicide bombers in Sulu after the double bombing of the city of Jolo [on] August 24, ”Gonzales said. “Rullie was the first on our list since we have received intelligence reports that she will carry out a suicide bombing after the death of her husband.”
According to Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command, agents found a vest equipped with two tube bombs and other components at Ben Tatoo’s home in Barangay San Raymundo.
The Aug. 24 bombing was believed to have been hatched by the Abu Sayyaf bomb maker Mundi Sawadjaan, the nephew of Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, the leader of Abu Sayyaf since Isnilon Hapilon’s death in 2017.
Malaysian media reported that Hatib is in the custody of Cici’s brothers Aisha, 11, and Ahmad Ibrahim, 12. Indonesian officials have claimed that he had married Aisha to a Filipino extremist after their arrival in Mindanao in 2019.
In another development, three other suspected terrorists were arrested in the village of Campo Islam in the city of Zamboanga after a search dumped firearms and explosives on Friday.
Police Captain Yashier Sarikin, a spokesman for the Zamboanga City Police, identified the three suspects as Abdulman Sarapuddin Tula, 32, Kadija Sadji, 31, and Al Rafee Jailani, 31, who is an active member. of the Philippine Coast Guard.
Sarikin said the three were arrested under search warrants directed against Tula and Sadji, for illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Fragmentation grenades, a .45 caliber pistol, more than two dozen live ammunition of different weapons were recovered from Tula.
A hand grenade, multi-colored wire, pliers, welding wires, concrete nails, batteries, cookie containers, ammonium nitrate powder, resistors and an Islamic State flag were recovered from Sadji.
Officers also recovered a .45 caliber pistol and live ammunition from Jailani.
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