Authorities arrested nine women allegedly being trained as suicide bombers in Sulu in separate operations conducted in Patikul and Jolo last week.
The Western Mindanao Command reported that the suspects were nabbed through a warrant of arrest. Three of them are children of slain ASG subleader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan while the others are widows of bandits killed in military operations.
WesMinCom Commander LtGen. Corleto Vinluan disclosed that they have long been monitoring the movements of the arrested individuals.
“Sila ‘yung mga inire-report ng isa sa Abu Sayyaf subgroup leader na nagbibigay ng information sa amin na sila ‘yung nagbibigay ng logistics requirements (They are those reported by an Abu Sayyaf subgroup leader who gives us information that they are those providing logistics requirements),” Vinluan bared.
Improvised explosive device (EID) components were seized from the suspects. They are now under the custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP) pending the filing of raps against them.
WesMinCom expressed alarm over the use of women as suicide bombers. Two female suicide bombers were involved in an explosion in Jolo, Sulu last August which resulted in the death of 15 individuals.
“Mahirap na ma-detect ang isang suicide bomber kung sila ay mga babae… Alam niyo naman yung culture doon sa Sulu, kailangan i-respect natin ‘yung mga babae doon. Hindi natin basta-basta nakakapkapan (It is hard to detect a suicide bomber if they are females… The culture in Sulu requires respect for women. We cannot frisk them that easily),” Vinluan said. – Report from Bea Bernardo
