Security forces raid Zambo farm, recover IED materials

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Police arrested a man and seized materials used in the manufacture of improvised explosives in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga, said a regional police spokeswoman on Saturday.

Maj. Shellamie Chang said several police units, backed by soldiers, raided a farm house in the village of Calabasa owned by Omar Mabanza on Friday, February 17 and arrested him. However, the target of the operation, Jomar Mohammad, managed to escape capture and is being hunted by security forces. 

“The target of the operation was Jomar Mohammad, but the latter eluded arrest,” she said. 

Chang said security forces recovered the following – time fuses, detonating cord, blasting cap, a tin can filled with explosive material, concrete nail, metal scrap, a 9-volt battery, an ice chest, an ammo link, among others. 

“All the above-mentioned IED components were placed near a coconut kiln just a few meters away from a house occupied by a certain Omar Mabanza y Ajijul, 27 years old,” she said. 

Police did not say whether Mohammad or Mabanza are members of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, whose leaders pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. 

Just recently, police commandos also captured a sub-leader of the Abu Sayyaf, Isnirul Kirih, in the coastal village of Sinunuc here. 

Kirih, 51, is facing over two dozen charges of murder and frustrated murder and had escaped military operations in the island-province of Basilan, about 44 nautical miles from here. 

Police did not say how they tracked down the elusive terrorist, but the operation also involved the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and several other police units. 

It was unknown how long the Kirih had been hiding in Zamboanga, home of the regional military and police headquarters in the Peninsula, or whether his group was planning an attack. 

The Abu Sayyaf, which means “the bearer of the sword,” is a small, but notorious group involved in terrorism and ransom kidnappings in the troubled region. 

Continuous security operations against the Abu Sayyaf in the South had either killed or led to the surrender of its fighters in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, while some of its fighters have joined the Dawlah Islamiya or Islamic State and other jihadist groups in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)