Two terrorist cells consisting of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members are now in Metro Manila, poised to launch a wave of terrorist bombings, the military said yesterday.
A senior military official told The STAR that intelligence agents are tracking down eight to 10 members of these terrorist cells in the metropolis.
Each cell has four members and all of them look like Filipinos and speak Tagalog fluently, making it difficult for security forces to unmask them and their activities, the official added.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has stepped up security in all ports and entry points in Mindanao to prevent foreign terrorists from sneaking into the country.
Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. inspected over the weekend several ports in Mindanao, which have been put on heightened alert.
He also ordered BI officers to be on the lookout for "suspicious-looking foreigners" who could be JI members trying to enter through the "southern backdoor."
Fernandez said there are thousands of undocumented Indonesians in Mindanao, and that the BI is vigorously pursuing their registration in cooperation with local officials.
More than 2,500 undocumented Indonesians have already been registered through the program, which was launched last year, said BI boarding section chief Jose Carandang.
Fernandez said his men are focusing on ports in the cities of Zamboanga, Davao, Sarangani, General Santos, and Cotabato. The ports in Puerto Princesa and Brookeâs Point in Palawan have also been alerted, he added.
The ports in Zamboanga City and Palawan are nearest to Indonesia, where most JI members are reportedly based and undergo training. A contingent of Philippine Marines has been deployed in these ports for five years now.
Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual, Armed Forces public information chief, said the JI terrorists in Metro Manila are most probably Indonesians.
"There is a real threat," he said.
"They were able to carry out bombings in the past. I donât want to sound alarmist, but the ASG and JI cells here in Metro Manila are capable of conducting bombings as we have experienced before.
"Our report is that there are JI operatives here in Metro Manila. What is definite is that the ISAFP (Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines) is monitoring a group of ASG and JIs in Metro Manila."
A senior intelligence official, who asked not to be named, said at least 10 JI terrorists are now operating in the National Capital Region, corroborating Pascualâs claim.
The JI militants "are very hard to detect because they operate in cells of four," the official said.
Security forces have been on guard since the Oct. 1 terrorist bombings in Bali, Indonesia, which killed 26 people.
Meanwhile, challenged by the porous coastlines and borders, the Naval Forces Western Mindanao is now heavily relying on its broad intelligence network to detect terrorists sneaking into the southern "backdoor."
The naval forces reconfigured its operational system to block the entry of the al-Qaeda-linked JI militants due to inadequate sea vessels.
Commodore Rufino Lopez Jr., Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) chief said, however, the lack of ships to patrol the large coastlines will be complemented by the presence of two task forces.
Task Force 62, implementing a Fleet Marine concept, is based in Tawi-Tawi and Sulu seas, while Task Force 61 is focused in Basilan and the Moro Gulf.
Four US Boston-Whaler speedboats have been acquired and have been utilized by the two task forces in their amphibious operation against the terrorists.
But Lopez said they will focus more on intelligence gathering, tapping the information network with its mass base.
Foreign and government security analysts revealed that the JI have been building up ties with the Abu Sayyaf, training their sights on the porous sea border of the Philippines and Indonesia.
"We are giving more resources to our intelligence before any preemptive strike is conducted," he said.
Lopez bolstered the massive intelligence work his command has been conducting, citing the recent apprehension of a speedboat that was supposed to be used by Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafi Janjalani in escaping to Malaysia.
The naval intelligence also led to the capture last month of the militant Black Killer and six of his followers in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, he added.
Lopez said focusing on intelligence operations would also prevent the navyâs assets from being depleted in times of actual missions.
Intelligence information showed that JI operatives Dulmatin and Umar Patek snuck into the country through Mindanaoâs broad coastline after the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia.
Dulmatin is tagged as the key suspect in the Bali bombings, while Umar Patek was tagged as the one who coordinated the ground operations.
The US government has already offered a $10 million reward for the capture of Dulmatin and an additional $1 million for Patek who are reported to be hiding with Janjalaniâs band in Central Mindanao.
Both military and the MILF have confirmed the presence of the two JI operatives in Maguindanao. |
Fawaz Zi Ajjur, whom security officials suspect may be an al-Qaida operative, was arrested Saturday in the southern city of Zamboanga after a circuitous journey that took him to Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and before arriving in the Philippines, the officials said. Ajjur did not have a visa and was taken into custody by immigration agents at the Zamboanga airport, Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. said. He was later allegedly identified by two captured Abu Sayyaf guerrillas as one of the foreign militants who trained them in bomb-making near Patikul town on the southern island of Jolo island a few years ago, a security official said on condition of anonymity. Ajjur strongly denied the allegation and any terrorism links, the official said.