Philippines nabs accomplice to Catholic Mass bombing suspects
He has been identified as Jafar Gamo Sultan a.k.a. Jaf/Kurot.
QUEZON CITY: Philippine government forces have captured a suspected accomplice to Sunday’s terrorist bombing of a Catholic Mass in the southern province of Lanao del Sur and identified another suspect who allegedly placed the bomb at the scene.
Combined troops of Task Force Marawi and Marawi City police captured on Wednesday (Dec. 6) a certain Jafar Gamo Sultan, a.k.a. Jaf/Kurot, one of the accomplices in the bombing at Mindanao State University, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said in a statement on Friday (Dec. 8).
“The suspect, who was apprehended in an operation in Brgy (village) Dulay Proper in Marawi, is a companion of a certain Omar, the person identified by witnesses to have placed the improvised explosive device at the Dimaporo Gymnasium. Also seized by troops are two motorcycles,” said the AFP.
“This development shows the seriousness of the government in capturing the perpetrators of the terrorist attack on innocent civilians and in ensuring that similar incidents will not happen again. It also demonstrates the AFP's commitment to its mandate as protector of the people and the state.”
Four people were killed and 54 others wounded in the attack on Mass held inside university’s gym in Lanao del Sur’s capital of Marawi, the city which Daesh laid siege to in 2017 to carve territory for the Southeast Asian chapter of the Middle Eastern terror group.
Over 1,200 people were killed, mostly militants, in the nation’s longest urban battle before government forces liberated the city in October of that year.
Earlier, the Philippine National Police (PNP) identified and released photos of two suspects in the bombing, who are still at large at publication time.
PNP Public Affairs Chief Col. Jean Fajardo identified the two as Kadapi Mimbesa a.k.a. Engineer and Arsani Membisa a.k.a Katab/Papitos, both allegedly members of the pro-Daesh Maute Group.
The Maute Group, along with the Abu Sayyaf Group, were the perpetrators of the 2017 Marawi siege.