BIFF terror bomb lab falls

Members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). INQUIRER MINDANAO FILE PHOTO

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines—The military on Wednesday said it had discovered the place where the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah was training Moro insurgents in making bombs.

Col. Donald Hongitan, commander of the Philippine Army’s 45th Infantry Battalion, said troops found on Tuesday morning a bamboo hut in a village in remote Mamasapano town in Maguindanao province where Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Basit Usman made bombs for the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

The hut is located at a vast rice field with coconut trees at the border of Mamasapano and Shariff Saydona town in the province.

“It confirmed our suspicion that Usman is aiding and training BIFF members in making bombs that they use against soldiers in the province,” Hongitan said.

Hongitan said Usman managed to escape, but four people—two men and two women—were arrested.

He said one of the women turned out to be Usman’s wife.