A woman from Indonesia suspected of planning a suicide bomb attack in the southern Philippines got arrested on Saturday in a pre-dawn raid, the military stated. The arrest comes less than two months after 15 people got murdered and 74 others wounded when two women suicide bombers blew themselves up in Jolo island, which is located in the southern province of Sulu.
The security forces put the blame of the August 24 attack on the Abu Sayyaf armed group. The woman of Indonesia got identified as Rezky Fantasya Rullie and was the widow of a man from Indonesia who got killed in Sulu in August, the Joint Task Force mentioned in a statement.
Suspected Suicide Bomb Attack Planner Arrested
The woman is also believed to be the child of two suicide bombers who were responsible for killing 21 people in an attack on a Catholic cathedral in Jolo early last year, it added. The attack was blamed on a group, which is linked to Abu Sayyaf
"We have been pursuing foreign terrorist suicide bombers in Sulu after the twin bombing of Jolo town (in August). Rullie was first on our list since we have received intelligence reports that she is going to conduct (a) suicide bombing," Brigadier General William Gonzales stated.
A vest that had pope bombs was seized along with other explosive device components from the Jolo island house, which is believed to be a property of an Abu Sayyaf leader, the military mentioned. Rullie got arrested along with two women who are married to members of the Abu Sayyaf, it added.
Abu Sayyaf, which is listed by the US as a terrorist organization, has been blamed for a number of the disastrous bombings in the Philippines and has also got the blame for kidnapping foreign tourists, Christian missionaries. Suicide attacks were very rare in the Philippines some time back, but there have been around five after July 2018.
