Indonesian suicide bomber, 2 Abu Sayyaf members nabbed in Jolo raid

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Combined military and police forces arrested the young Indonesian female suicide bomber with two other female Abu Sayyaf members during the raid Saturday dawn and recovered a bomb vest in a village of Jolo, Sulu, security officials said.

Arrested were Indonesian Rezky Fantasya Rullie alias "Cici", Nur-Aina Alihasan alias "Inda Nhur", wife of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Ben Quirino Yadah alias "Ben Tatoo", and Fatima Sandra Jimlani, wife of Abu Sayyaf member Jahid Jam, according to Brig. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of Joint task Force Sulu (JTFS).

Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr. said reports from Gonzales revealed that forces from the JTFS and the police carried out the raid with a search warrant  at the house of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Ben Tatoo located at Sitio Kuppong, Barangay San Raymundo, Jolo. They arrested the suspects about 1:50 a.m. Saturday.

Vinluan said the raiding security forces recovered from the possession of the suspects a bomb vest rigged with 2 pipe bombs and other improvised explosive device components.

According to Vinluan, the arrested suspects were currently detained at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit for documentation and filing of appropriate charges.

Gonzales said they have been pursuing the foreign terrorists and their Abu Sayyaf cohorts after the deadly twin suicide bombing attacks on August 24, which left 15 people killed, mostly soldiers and civilians and more than 70 others injured.

Gonzales said they have been tracking down Rullie following intelligence reports that the suspect was planning to launch suicide bombing attack after her husband Andi Baso, also an Indonesian, was killed in the military encounter last August 29 in the jungle of Patikul town.

“Rullie was first in our list since we have received intelligence reports that she is going to conduct suicide bombing after the death of his husband, Andi Baso,” Gonzales said.

The military official said the arrest of Rullie and two other suspects had served justice to the Filipino people and the residents of Sulu.

According to Gonzales, Rullie is believed to be the daughter of the Indonesian couple who perpetrated the twin suicide bombings that hit Jolo Cathedral last January 27, 2019, which killed 22 people and injured over a hundred others.

It will be recalled that Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Mudzrimar Sawadjaan alias "Mundi", the mastermind in the Jolo suicide bombings, planned to slip out Jolo with Rullie and Baso to carry out the terror attack in Zamboanga peninsula.

Gonzales said they have been relentlessly pursuing Sawadjaan who is still believed to be hiding in the mountains of Sulu with some foreign terrorists.

Vinluan said the early arrest of Rullie was a big blow to the Abu Sayyaf group and the foreign terrorists coddled by the group in Sulu.

He said the successful operation also thwarted the group from staging bombing attacks.

Vinluan commended all the military and police units involved in the operation and urged the continued support to combat terrorism.

“Rest assured that Team WestMinCom will continue to keep guard as we sustain the conduct of combat, intelligence, and civil-military operations to ensure peace and security in the region,” he said.