COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The police on Sunday arrested a senior member of the Dawlah Islamiya implicated in two deadly bombings in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat in 2018.
Combined personnel of regional police offices in Region 12 and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region cornered Dawlah Islamiya member Momong Esmael along a stretch of the Cotabato-Isulan highway in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
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Esmael is a known henchman of Iman Bongos, leader of one of three factions in the Dawlah Islam, also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which uses the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as banner.
Esmael voluntarily surrendered when he was shown copies of the warrants for his arrest in connection with his involvement in the August 28 and September 2, 2018 bombings in Isulan, provincial capital of Sultan Kudarat, that killed three people and left more than 50 others wounded.
The warrant for his arrest was issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 19 in Isulan.
Esmael is now detained at the municipal police station in Isulan, about 20 kilometers south of Ampatuan where he was arrested.