ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Philippine military is holding a young Egyptian jihadist whose mother blew herself up in an attack on an army checkpoint in 2019 in the southern province of Sulu, officials said Friday.
Army Maj. Andrew Linaw, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command here, said the 13-year old Ibrahim surrendered together with a Filipino Abu Sayyaf fighter Ellam, a 27-year old sub-leader of the pro-ISIS group, in Indanan town.
Linaw said the duo yielded late Wednesday afternoon, June 14, and handed over their weapons - two M16A1 automatic rifles and ammunition - to the military at the 1103rd Infantry Brigade under Col. Christopher Tampus where the two men had been interrogated. “He is the last juvenile foreign terrorist on the periodic list. Ibrahim is believed to have entered the country in 2017 as a tourist through the Manila International Airport with his stepfather, mother, and two brothers,” he said.
Ibrahim, during interrogation, revealed that their family joined the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan province in 2017 and eventually fled to Sulu province to join the group of notorious Abu Sayyaf leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan in 2018.
His mother, Reda Mohammad Mahmud, blew herself at the checkpoint in Km 3 in the village of Kajatian in Indanan town on September 8, 2019. His stepfather, Abduramil, and brother Abdurahman died in an encounter with the army troops in Kan Islam village in Indanan town on November 7, 2019, while his other brother, Yusop was killed in an encounter with soldiers on April 17, 2021, in Igasan town in Patikul town.
Linaw said Ibrahim joined the Abu Sayyaf as a juvenile 10-year-old fighter and was involved in numerous encounters in Sulu, where he incurred two injuries in his head and right forearm.
“Speaking in the local Tausug dialect, Ibrahim expressed his resentment against his mother who dragged him and his brothers into horrific situations where they must fight against the government forces and conduct atrocities. He thought that they were just going on a vacation trip in the Philippines, but he was forced to join the Abu Sayyaf Group,” he said, quoting a transcript of the interrogation.
Linaw said that Ibrahim and Ellam, a sub-leader of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Radullan Sahiron, surrendered together and claimed they wanted to start a new life citing the continued mass surrender of Abu Sayyaf members in the province and taking advantage of the government’s reconciliation program.
According to the military’s interrogation report, Ellam was recruited in 2009 when he was just 15 years old. He also acted as close-in security for Sahiron and the guide of the group in the Patikul area. He was involved in numerous armed confrontations against government forces from 2009-2021.
Maj. Gen. Ignatius Patrimonio, commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, branded the surrender of the jihadists calling it a “remarkable accomplishment.” He attributed this success of the Egyptian’s surrender to the intelligence units in Sulu, the local chief executives, other stakeholders, and the peace-loving people of Indanan.
Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, commander of Western Mindanao Command, said that the surrender of the foreign terrorist fighter and Abu Sayyaf sub-leader manifests that the government has won the hearts and minds not only of the people, but also that of the remnants of the different threat groups. “Our successful operations only prove that with commitment and collaboration, we can accomplish so much in the battle against terrorism, insurgency, and any form of criminality,” he said.
Security officials did not say if there are still foreign ISIS fighters in Sulu, but in August 24, 2020, a pair of suicide bombers struck in the capital town of Jolo and killed and wounded dozens of soldiers and civilians. One of the bombers was the Indonesian widow of Abu Sayyaf suicide bomber Norman Lasuca, who blew himself up outside a military base and killed eight people in Indanan town in 2019. The other bomber was the wife of Talha Jumsa, an Abu Sayyaf explosives expert and trained by ISIS, who was also slain in the 2019 clash with soldiers in Patikul town.
In January 2019, a twin suicide attacks carried out by Indonesian couple Rullie Rian Zeke and Ulfah Handayani Saleh at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in downtown Jolo also killed and injured dozens of soldiers and civilians. The first bomb went off inside the church and the second blast occurred outside just as people were rushing out of the building. (Mindanao Examiner)
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