Indonesian terrorist nabbed in Marawi

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines — Civilian volunteers and policemen arrested on Wednesday in Marawi City an Indonesian ally of slain terrorists Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute.

Officials of the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao confirmed the arrest of the foreigner at Barangay Loksadatu in Marawi City through the joint-effort of barangay tanods and personnel of the city police office.

Superintendent Ebra Moxsir, Marawi City police director, declined to identify the Indonesian pending validation of his exact identity.

Army and police officials said the Indonesian was involved in the five-month siege of Marawi City by combined Maute and Abu Sayyaf gunmen.

“He was an ally of Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute,” said a senior Army official in Marawi City, who asked not to be identified for lack of authority to speak on the issue.

A Maranaw regional lawmaker, Zia Alonto Adiong of the 24-seat Regional Assembly-ARMM, said Wednesday that it was for the vigilance of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team in Barangay Loksadatu that the presence of the Indonesian in the area was detected.

“The foreigner is now in the custody of the Marawi City police,” Adiong said, speaking on behalf of the Lanao del Sur provincial government.

Marawi City is the capital of Lanao del Sur, which covers 39 towns, among them Butig, the hometown of siblings Omar and Abdullah Maute, founders of the Maute terror group.

Hapilon, who was of mixed Yakan and Tausug descent and leader of the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan, and Omar, an ethnic Maranaw, were killed in an encounter with pursuing soldiers last month.