AUTHORITIES have identified one of two suicide attackers at an army camp in Indanan, Sulu as a Filipino militant, the son of a Tausug mother and a “balik-Islam” father.
Major General Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, told The Associated Press that the family of the 23-year-old militant, Norman Lasuca, has identified him as one of the bombers.
Lasuca is the first known Filipino militant to have agreed to carry out a suicide bombing in the country.
The other suicide bomber was described as having Caucasian features and may have been the son of the Moroccan who set off a bomb at a checkpoint in Lamitan, Basilan
The bombs killed eight people, including the two bombers, in an army camp in Indanan, Sulu on Friday, June 28, 2019.
Sobejana said Lasuca left his family’s home in Barangay Astorias in Jolo, Sulu about five years ago. He was believed to have joined an Abu Sayyaf militant faction under the control of commander Hajan Sawadjaan.
Sawadjaan is an Islamic State group-aligned commander and the suspected mastermind of the suicide attacks.
"This is really very tragic for Lasuca's family, his mother. They saw him last five years ago and this is the first time they're only seeing him again," Sobejana said.
Poverty and a lack of education may have driven Lasuca to the Abu Sayyaf, which lures recruits with money and guns, he said.
The Indanan bombing occurred five months after a couple of suicide bombers attacked the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Jolo on January 27, 2019. The bombers in that incident were believed to be foreign militants.
That incident, which was also believed to have been perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf, killed 23 people and wounded about 100 others, including uniformed men.
Sobejana, in a telephone interview with Manila reporters, said Lasuca’s head was severed by the explosion in Indanan.
His mother Vilma and brother Alhussin claimed the head from the morgue of Camp Teodulfo Bautista on Monday, July 1, and buried it.
AFP spokesperson Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo said Lasuca’s head and Vilma will undergo DNA testing to determine if the bomber was a Filipino.
“Pending determination by the DNA test based from the samples taken from the remains and samples from the alleged mother, if that’s going to be positive, then that’s the only time we can say with conclusivity that indeed the person is Filipino,” he said.
Military officials told AP that Lasuca managed to dash into the camp after the first militant was stopped at the army camp's gate by soldiers. The first militant detonated his bomb, killing three soldiers at the gate.
After he got past the gate, Lasuca was shot by other soldiers, prompting him to set off his explosive while yelling "Allahu akbar," or God is great.
Sobejana, however, said in the telephone interview with the Manila reporters that it was the unidentified bomber, a child, who was able to enter the compound.
He said a video was taken of the child while he was the commander of Joint Task Force Sulu.
Sobejana said they were still trying to determine who detonated the bombs. Did the bombers themselves detonate these? Or were these detonated remotely?
“Ang isang possibility is he was, yung bomb, was detonated remotely by somebody observing him, baka yung mga handler nila, and hindi pa tayo 100 percent certain na it was a suicide bombing. Mataas ang probability. Even yung nakapasok sa loob ng compound, yung bata, he can be detonated remotely by somebody ano,” Sobejana said.
(One possibility is that somebody observing the bombers detonated the bombs, probably their handler. The probability that it was a suicide bombing is high. Even the child who managed the enter the compound may have been detonated remotely.)
The powerful explosion killed three soldiers at the gate. Parked vehicles were damaged.
The suicide bombings sparked a security alarm, including in the capital, Manila, where police forces were put on full alert Friday.
The alert status was downgraded to heightened alert effective 6 p.m. Monday after authorities assessed the situation and concluded there was no threat.
Battle setbacks have reduced the number of Abu Sayyaf armed fighters to less than 400 but they have remained a national security threat.
Abu Sayyaf militants have largely thrived on ransom kidnappings and extortion, although defense officials said they may have received foreign funds, including from the Islamic State group, to finance attacks.
The brutal group has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the United States and the Philippines for bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings. (AP and Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)