BARRM: Text messages warned of attack
GOVERNMENT troops have launched a “massive operation” against the perpetrators of last Sunday’s bombing at the Mindanao State University in Marawi City that left four people dead and 50 others injured.
In a press conference in Marawi City, Lt. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of the AFP Western Mindanao Command, said he has ordered ground commanders “to go after the perpetrators.”
While the government is going on the offensive, the military will also have to deal with the claim made by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) that text messages warning of a bombing circulated last Saturday night.
But BARRM regional government spokesman Naguib Sinarimbo, during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing, said the warning “was not specific (where it will take place).”
“This has to be looked into thoroughly so we can identify the persons behind this bombing,” said Sinarimbo.
Armed Forces spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar said they are going to verify the information.
“I am not aware of the text messages if there were, or none. But this will be the subject of (an) investigation,” he said.
Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, chief of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police, said they have identified two persons of interest in the bombing.
“Yes, we have persons of interest but in order not to preempt the investigation, we are not going to divulge the names of these POIs,” said Nobleza.
In a radio interview, Nobleza said “one of our persons of interest point to the local terrorists” as behind the attack but did not elaborate.
“We have persons of interest but an investigation is still ongoing. So in order not to preempt the investigation, we will not divulge their names,” said Nobleza, who also ruled out that the attack was a case of suicide bombing.
“We rule out that. It was not a body-borne IED or suicide,” said Nobleza.
The PNP, meanwhile ruled out the possibility of declaring a state of emergency in Marawi City, with PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo saying: “We are not yet at that stage because the PNP is top of the situation for now.”
Fajardo also noted the PNP and the AFP have deployed additional forces in Lanao del Sur to ensure peace and order in the province.
Gonzales said the military “will use all our resources and capability to find them as soon as possible,” referring to members of the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group.
“As we speak, while we are here, there is an ongoing massive operation to hunt (down) these terrorist groups or the suspected perpetrators of this bombing,” said Gonzales.
An improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated at the university’s Dimaporo Gymnasium during a Catholic mass service. The IED was fashioned from a 60 mm mortar, based on fragments recovered at the blast site, police said.
“Rest assured that the military will go after the perpetrators, we will see to it that the people here will be secured and safe. That will be our commitment,” said Gonzales.
“We have to address this as soon as possible. Our primary objective here is to get the perpetrators, dismantle the terrorist groups in this area and prevent a repeat of this terroristic (activity) or hostility,” said Gonzales.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., in the same press conference, said the AFP and the PNP are doing their best to get the perpetrators.
“Your security forces, both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, are working doubly hard to make sure that the perpetrators of this terroristic attack will be brought to justice,” said Brawner.
“We will run after them and we will try to neutralize this group so they will not be able to do the same thing that will arm innocent civilians,” Brawner said.
Last Sunday, Brawner said the bombing may have been a retaliation for the killing of Mudzrimar Sawadjaan, alias Mundi, the top leader of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, last Saturday night and Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group terrorist group sub-leader Jalandoni Lucsadato, alias Lando, who was slain in another military operation in Lanao del Sur on Sunday morning.
Brawner also urged the people of Marawi City to be calm, assuring them that soldiers and policemen would ensure their safety.
On whether the Islamic State of Iraq and Syra members or followers in Mindanao were behind the attack, Brawner said: “We are not discounting that, we are looking at all aspects, we are looking at all angles.”
ISIS has links with terrorist groups operating in Mindanao, including the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group, the Abu Sayyaf, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said: “The AFP has already initiated its investigation in coordination with the PNP for the bomb signature that would help identify the terrorist group behind the bombing.
“The AFP is validating the claims made by ISIS in recent news reports as well as the involvement of the DI-Maute Group in this heinous act of terror,” added Trinidad.
Trinidad said the military is currently on “heightened alert to ensure the safety of the public and that the perpetrators responsible will be apprehended and/or neutralized.”
“The AFP remains committed to its mandate of protecting the people and the state from all various threat groups, foreign and domestic,” said Trinidad.
National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Malaya said they are verifying the ISIS claim.
Malaya said ISIS tends to claim responsibility for attacks that were not perpetrated by the group.
“At present, we are verifying these reports that it was ISIS-inspired or ISIS itself or through their local counterparts did this,” said Malaya.
“We know of some remnants of the extremist groups in Lanao del Sur and they are being pursued by authorities. And the Armed Forces, together with the Philippine National Police, has committed to find those persons responsible for this dastardly attack and they will be brought to justice,” said Malaya.
Sinarimbo said the BARMM condemns the attack, especially because it targeted students and religious activity.
“That’s not acceptable and it has to be condemned by everyone,” said Sinarimbo.
“It’s saddening because they targeted our Christian brothers who were attending a mass that day at the gymnasium of the Mindanao State University,” said Sinarimbo.
Sinarimbo said the fatalities in the attack were all identified by authorities.
“So far the bodies were accounted and identified. It’s not a case of suicide bombing. It (bomb) was brought planted, it was brought inside and detonated,” said Sinarimbo.
