THE government will investigate the possible links that two arrested foreign nationals belonging to the Islamic State have to local terrorist groups, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Friday.
“We are going to continue in partnership with our intelligence units to verify if there are other persons involved,” Aguirre said.
Bureau of Immigration agents arrested Kuwaiti national Husayn Al-Dhafiri and Syrian national Rahaf Zina, both ISIS members, on March 25 inside the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
Husayn is involved in explosives manufacturing and possibly in operational planning against Kuwait, while, Rahaf is the widow of the slain Abu Jandal Al-Kuwaiti, who is the number two military commander of the ISIS operating in Syria.
Husayn and Rahaf, currently detained awaiting deportation proceedings against them, were the subject of a deportation request by the Kuwaiti Embassy.
The National Bureau of Investigation said the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the National Intelligence Coordination Agency also wanted to question the two arrested ISIS members.
“The government’s law enforcement agencies might want to investigate them so the two might eventually get transferred to either the police or the military,” Aguirre said.
Immigration records showed that Husayn has been in and out of the Philippines since last year on a tourist visa.
However, this year, the two IS members have been in the country since Jan. 28 with a working visa facilitated by a local company called Q8 Solutions.
The two traveled to Davao for four days and stayed in Cebu for three days.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said it is possible that the two made contact with members of the local terror group Maute.
“That is a possibility and that is being investigated by our intelligence service,” BI official said. “I think the military is very much aware of this. They are validating this information.”
A party-list lawmaker, meanwhile, called for an investigation of a clinic that helps send Filipino workers to Kuwait for its possible links to IS.
At a news conference, Alliance for Community Transformation and Service-Overseas Filipino Workers (ACT-OFW) Rep. Aniceto Bertiz said he filed a resolution calling for a congressional inquiry to know if the incorporator and operations manager of Winston Q8 Certification Solutions International Inc., Bandar S SH F Al-Dhafiri (Husayn Al-Dhafiri), and a Kuwaiti national recently arrested in Taguig City, Husayn Al-Dhafiri for his involvement with the ISIS, are “one and the same person.”
“Both are Kuwaiti nationals. The firm is located in Taguig City, and that Al-Dhafiri was arrested also in Taguig,” he told reporters. With Rio N. Araja