Manila: The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it has information that a foreigner of German-Arab extraction was behind the July 31 bomb blast in Basilan that killed 11 people including four non-combatants.
In a report posted August 2 in its ‘Luwaran’ website, the MILF said that it has information that the foreign perpetrator “arrived in Basilan via Sulu few days before the blast.”
The bomber arrived in Basilan along with two others, believed also believed to be foreign nationals, using the same route. It was taken that the perpetrators had used the so-called southern back door, a porous area between Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
“The foreign terrorists are under the custody Abu Sayyaf Commander Furuji Indama, also known as Abu Dujanah,” it said.
MILF’s own intelligence network has a measure of credibility being free from intramurals among government law enforcement agencies.
Earlier reports based on surviving witnesses who saw the bomber just moments before the blast, said the perpetrator appeared to be a foreigner and was having difficulty communicating when spoken to in Basilan’s native Yakan dialect.
Blast rocks country
The July 31 roadside blast in the village of Colonia in Lamitan sent shock waves of fear. According to reports, a lone foreign-looking man in a white van was flagged down by members of the militia, the Civilian Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) at a checkpoint near a military camp early morning on that day.
As the driver was being quizzed by the army sergeant heading the CAFGU unit, the bomb detonated immediately, killing the soldier and four militiamen as well the bomb courier.
MILF Chair Murad Ebrahim, reacting to the July 31 blast, which occurred days after President Rodrigo Duterte passed the Bangsamoro Organic Law, said: “there will be no compromise with terrorists whose aims are to create chaos, destruction and bloodshed. No quarters shall be given to them and they must be defeated at once. They must not be allowed to grow.”
General Carlito Galvez Jr, Armed Forces chief-of-staff, said they have reason to believe that the blast was carried out by the Abu Sayyaf. “It could be a bombing mission in Lamitan by the Abu Sayyaf but the bomb prematurely exploded at the military checkpoint,” he said.
He said it is highly likely that the target of Tuesday’s bombing was the parade for the nutrition month culmination activity in Lamitan City where thousands of children from the different schools in Lamitan City, took part.
“They (Abu Sayyaf) wanted to make a very strong statement through the bombing,” Galvez said.
