AT least 100 extremists have completed their training in bomb making from foreign jihadists and are being deployed on test missions in various areas of Mindanao, military sources said Wednesday.
The military issued the warning even as security forces continued their three-week long offensive against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a splinter group from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The offensive has already killed an Indonesian jihadist and Omar Maute, the leader of a band of rebels that has been harboring foreign terrorists.
Maute, was killed by troops of the Army’s 51st Infantry Battalion in Butig, Lanao del Sur over the weekend, but his wife, an Indonesian jihadist, is still hiding somewhere in Mindanao, the source said.
Maute is believed to have harbored Indonesian terrorist Mohammad Muktar, who was killed in the clashes at Butig.
Muktar is believed to be part of a group of Indonesian and Malaysian jihadists who fled their homelands and sought refuge with extremists in Mindanao.
The foreign jihadists were the ones who trained the group of 100 extremists in bomb making somewhere in Liguasan Marsh near Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, the source said.
As part of their training, the local extremists planted explosive devices in the towns of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Guindulungan, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Hofer and Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao and in Pikit and Aleosan towns in North Cotabato, the source added.
The military had earlier reported that at least 18 government soldiers were injured by these bombs. Five civilians, including the town treasurer of Datu Salibo, were also among the casualties of the bombs planted by the extremist group.
AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said they were “always on the alert” for terrorist attacks.
The recruits were trained by Salahudin Hassan, a member of the Al Khobar group supporting the Jemaah Islamiya and Mumanda Ali, alias Mauwiya, a former military officer from Singapore, who took part in the 2001 bomb attack in Bali, Indonesia. He sought refuge in Mindanao in 2002.
The recruits include Jolo-based militants and extremists from Central Mindanao.
Similar reports of bombing missions by at least six ASG recruits under terrorist sub-leader Majan Sajidjuan, alias Mike, spread in Sulu after they were seen roaming Jolo last month, prompting Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado to put his troops on alert.
The more than 100 land mines found in Datu, Salibo were laid by the recruits as part of their test missions, the source said.
The military has been clearing the area of land mines.
Muktar was the second Indonesian militant to have been killed after security forces launched a campaign against the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu and BIFF in Central Mindanao.
Reports, meanwhile, indicated that members of the MILF’s 102nd Base Command under Abdullah Makapaar, alias commander Bravo,were responsible for the ambush of an Army mechanized brigade in Butig town that left four soldiers dead.
The MILF’s 102nd BC has been in an alliance with JI bomb expert Azahari, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both masterminds of the 2002 Bali, Indonesia blast that left 202 people killed.
Dulmatin was killed in a firefight with Indonesian police in 2010 while Patek was captured by Pakistani security forces in Abbotabad on Jan. 25, 2011. Both were involved in a series of bombings in Mindanao during that period.
“Very significantly, there has been an alliance between MILF 102nd BC and foreign jihadists and it also appears that the MILF cannot control Bravo, the current MILF’s regional commander in the Western Front Command,” a source said.
“The MILF is avoiding the issue of Bravo’s actions, it’s like a good cop or bad cop tactic,” the source added.