PHILIPPINE National Police chief Ronaldo dela Rosa said the jihadist Abu Naila, who was slain by security forces in Maasim town, Sarangani province Saturday, was on his way to strife-torn Syria.
“The foreign national is believed to be a Sudanese national. He was on his way to Syria, but he dropped by here [in the Philippines] to conduct training,” Dela Rosa said.
Naila and his wife, Kadija, were killed when he tried to lob a grenade at government forces trying to arrest him.
Police say they found explosive devices, subversive documents and an ISIS (Islamic State) flag on the slain jihadist.
Authorities said they did not yet know how Naila and Kadija were able to sneak into the country undetected, or which international terrorist groups with which they had ties.
Dela Rosa said the killing of Naila and Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, alias Tokboy, commander of
Ansar Al-Khalifa Philippines, an ISIS-linked terror group in Mindanao, was a major setback to the terrorists.
Maguid was killed in an encounter with security forces at the Angel Beach Resort in Kaimba town also in Sarangani province Thursday.
Reports said that at least 12 foreign terrorists have sought sanctuary in different areas in Mindanao, some of them being protected by the Abu Sayyaf Group.