THE widow of two slain militant leaders has been arrested for allegedly supporting extremist groups and possessing firearms and explosives, police said Sunday.
Juromee Dongon was married to a senior leader of the notorious Abu Sayyaf kidnap group, Khadaffy Janjalani. After his death in 2006 she married Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, who was killed in 2015 in the Philippines, police said.
Authorities arrested Dongon along with her relatives in her home in Lanao del Norte province where they found firearms, ammunition and bomb-making components, a police statement said.
“She assists, associates, networks and supports terrorist groups,” regional police spokesman Superintendent Lemuel Gonda said.
“Juromee was linked with Abu Sayyaf during the time of Janjalani and then later Jemaah Islamiyah,” he added, referring to a Southeast Asian militant group.
Marwan was a leading member of Jemaah Islamiyah and a suspect in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people as well as in two deadly Philippine attacks.
He died in a raid in Mamasapano in Maguindanao that also left 44 police commandos dead. The US had offered a $5 million bounty for him.
In two operations on Sunday, police arrested Dongon as well as her two sisters and father, Gonda said, adding the family had “connections with terrorists.”
The Dongons faced charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
The Abu Sayyaf had harboured JI militants in their bases in remote southern islands, including key suspects in the Bali bombings.
Security analysts have said widows of militant leaders played important roles in extremist groups as they enhanced the status of their second husbands.
Also arrested with Dongon were her sister Lorilie Dongon Atta and her husband SPO4 Andy Ascali Atta.
Earlier on Sunday, Dongon’s parents were also arrested in a joint police and military operation at Sitio Tinago Barangay San Juan, Baroy, Lanao del Norte.
Gonda identified them as Romeo Aborido Dongon alias Faisaland Norein Dongon Santos.
