Sayyaf sub-leader Sawadjaan plotted Jolo bombings, says military

MANILA, Philippines — Abu Sayyaf Group unit sub-leader and bombmaker Mudzrimar “Mundi” Sawadjaan plotted Monday’s twin suicide bombings in Sulu, the military said.

“‘Yung mastermind, same pa rin sya, si Mundi Sawadjaan,” Western Mindanao Command chief Maj. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr. said in an interview with DZMM on Thursday.

Two widows of Islamic militants blew themselves up in the attacks that killed at least 15 people and injured 75 others in Jolo, the island province’s capital.

Mundi was said to be a nephew of Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, the leader of the Islamic State’s faction within Abu Sayyaf.

Hatib Sawadjaan was earlier identified by a US report as the “acting emir” of ISIS in the Philippines.

EDV