Manila: A suspected member of the Maute group was arrested recently in the capital, confirming assertions that the terror group had broadened its reach to include the country’s most heavily populated areas.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronaldo dela Rosa announced on Monday that husband and wife, Abdul Nasser and Raisalam Lomondot, were arrested last Saturday in Manila’s busy Divisoria commercial district by police intelligence agents.
The two were among the key players in the attack in the Maute and Abu Sayyaf attack in Marawi City that started on May 23, 2017.
Nasser participated in the attack on a detachment in Mantampoli village, Marawi City, which was among the opening actions in the Marawi City siege by Daesh-inspired Maute and Abu Sayyaf radicals.
Nasser and Lomondot were formally charged with possession of firearms and explosives by the prosecutor.
Dela Rosa said they are trying to determine how the couple were able to slip to Manila despite the heavy security around Marawi City and the Western Mindanao region.
“We lacked in our efforts when they managed to go out of Mindanao,” he said.
Chief Superintendent Joel Napoleon Coronel, Director of the Manila Police District (MPD), said perhaps the couple managed to go to Manila using assumed identities.
Authorities, however, dispelled assumptions that the Maute, which only last week was recognised by the US State Department as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs),” has already entered Manila in force.
“I don’t think they have enough forces to carry out an attack in Manila or for that matter any other areas in the Philippines similar in scale to that of Marawi City. However, it is always good to be prepared,” a security official told Gulf News.
