ALIAS Kamah and four other members of the Abu Sayyaf Group believed to be behind the bombing of the Jolo cathedral surrendered to authorities over the weekend, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde said on Monday, February 4.
Albayalde said Kammah L. Pae alias Kamah, Albaji Kisae Gadjali alias Awag, Radjan Bakil Gadjali, Kaisar Bakil Gadjali and Salit Alih surrendered following massive hot pursuit operations by several police and military units.
These five suspects, as well as two alleged suicide bombers, were part of a 21-man team that has been tagged as responsible for the two explosions at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo, Sulu on January 27.
The team was allegedly led by Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan.
“Fourteen more suspects remain at large, including the mastermind Sawadjaan, while three others, including the two Asian suicide bombers had been killed,” he said.
Among the suspects at-large are Sawadjaan, Makrim J Habbisi, Barak Ingug, Usman alias Ubin, a certain alias Arab Puti and nine John Does.
Two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) went off in the middle of a Mass at the Jolo cathedral on January 27. As of Monday morning, the death toll from the bombing has risen to 23. At least 95 others were wounded.
The investigation is still far from over despite the surrender of the five suspects, Albayalde said.
He said “there are more pieces of evidence that need to be carefully examined to test its consistency with other facts and circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Sequence of event
Albayalde said that based on the investigation of the Special Investigations Task Group and on the accounts of four of the suspects who surrendered, Arab Puti and Alih purchased bomb components from a hardware store in Latih in Patikul, Sulu on January 8. They, however, abandoned the effort to make an improvised explosive device (IED).
On January 12, Sawadjaan met with Usman and Ingug in Bastiong, Patikul and gave them the funds for a bombing mission.
On January 24, an Asian couple believed to be Indonesians who served as the suicide bombers sailed to Jolo on board a pump boat from Lampingan Island, where they had been holed up.
Upon arrival in Jolo, the suspects boarded a tricycle going to Caltex Tiam to meet Awag, Alih and Radjan.
The couple, together with Alih and Radjan, boarded Awag’s jeepney along with five minor boys who later disembarked from the vehicle.
The couple was brought to Barangay Langhub in Patikul, near Usman’s house, and they were joined by Kamah, Barak, Makrim and Usman.
The group proceeded to Sitio Bastiong, Barangay Langub.
“The couple alighted at Bastiong and walked towards the forested area escorted by Kamah and Barak where they met Sawadjaan to further plan the bombing. Also present during the planning were Barak, Kamah, Awag, Usman, Makrim, Isal, Radjan and Papong,” said Albayalde.
On January 26, some of the group’s members escorted the couple to Jolo. The group stayed in the town for their mission the next morning.
“The following morning, it is believed that the Indonesian woman detonated the first IED inside the Jolo cathedral while the man detonated the second IED at the church entrance seconds later,” Albayalde added.
Albayalde said that forensic technicians reconstructed the two detonated IEDs using fragments and components recovered at the scene. They determined that the bombs were made from common GI pipes that served as casing and ammonium nitrate-fuel oil compound as primary explosive charge, possibly boosted by secondary high explosives such as PETN, TNT or RDX.
Albayalde said the design of the IED was similar to those used by the Abu Sayyaf in the five bombing incidents in Basilan and Sulu in 2016 and 2017.
“One incident in Sulu on March 12, 2017 along Scott road, Barangay San Raymundo, Jolo, involved an IED similar to the ones detonated in the Mount Carmel cathedral last week,” said Albayalde.
“Two similar IEDs were also detonated by the Abu Sayyaf in Lamitan City on March 19 and 20, 2017, while four more similar IEDs were defused by the military in Barangay Magcawa, Al-barca, Basilan on May 20, 2016,” he added.
The hot pursuit operations against the bombing suspects are being conducted by the Patikul Municipal Police Station, 52nd Special Action Company, Sulu Provincial Mobile Force Company, 14th Regional Mobile Force Battalion, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 9, Regional Intelligence Unit 9 and 35th Infantry battalion of the Philippine Army. (SunStar Philippines)