CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 10 October) — Army soldiers arrested in a raid Saturday dawn in Jolo a suspected Indonesian suicide bomber, who is the daughter of an Indonesian couple behind the 2019 twin bombings of the Jolo cathedral, and wife of a suspected terrorist killed in an encounter with the Army in August.
Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, Jr., Commander, Western Mindanao Command, said Indonesian national Rezky Fantasya Rullie, a.k.a Cici, was arrested along with her two local contacts identified as Nur-Aina Alihasan and Fatima Sandra Jimlani.
In a statement, Vinluan said Rullie was “first on our list since we have received intelligence reports that she is going to conduct suicide bombing” after her husband, Andi Baso, identified as an Indonesian terrorist, was killed in an encounter with Army rangers last August 29.
Vinluan said a vest rigged with two pipe bombs were found in the house of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Ben Quirino Yadah, aka Ben Tatoo, in Sitio Kuppong, Barangay San Raymundo, Jolo, Sulu.
Rullie’s parents were reportedly the couple behind the twin bombings of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu on January 27, 2019 that left 21 persons killed and at least a hundred persons injured.
Vinluan said Rullie and her two companions – Alihasan aka Inda Nhur, and Jimlani — are currently detained at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit for documentation and filing of appropriate charges.
Alihasan and Jimlani, are wives of members of the Abu Sayyaf faction led by Mundi Sawadjaan and Radulan Sahiron, who carried out the August 24, 2020 suicide attacks in downtown Jolo, indicating how extremism has affected families in Sulu, Vinluan said.
The military intensified the manhunt for suicide bombers following the August 24 suicide attacks that left 15 killed and 75 injured. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
