Suspected bomber linked to Marwan arrested in Misamis Occidental

MANILA, Philippines—A suspected bomber and alleged member of a terrorist group linked to slain Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir or “Marwan” was arrested by police in Misamis Occidental on Saturday afternoon.

Abdul Malik Salik, a member of notorious Al Khobar terrorist group, was caught in a police checkpoint along a national highway in Panaon town around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

In a text message to reporters, Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz, northern Mindanao police chief, said Salik was responsible for several bombing incidents since 2006, including those in Kidapawan, Cotabato province and Digos, Davao del Sur, killing several civilians.

Salik has standing arrest warrants for multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder.

In a separate text message to INQUIRER.net, Cruz said no casualties were reported during Salik’s arrest.

Bomb-making expert Marwan, one of JI’s prominent members, has recently been neutralized by the Philippine National Police’s counterinsurgency unit, the Special Action Force, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province. The secret mission, however, cost lives of 44 elite policemen, 18 Moro Islamic Liberation Front members and five civilians.

In 2008, the Department of Interior and Local Government announced a P400,000 reward for anyone who can help authorities capture Salik, one of the suspects in the bombing of a Metro Shuttle Bus in Sept. 1 that year.

The incident killed at least five people and injured 30 others.

Same rewards were offered for Salik’s fellow bombing suspects Mahir Abu Bakr and Jonaria Mindiba.

The Al Khobar group has been linked to Jemaah Islamiyah and other foreign militant jihadists terror groups.

It was allegedly intended to serve as a special unit concentrating on using explosives and carrying out extortion schemes across Cotabato. The group eventually transformed into a kidnap-for-ransom gang and, much later, into an extortion group, according to a statement by the PNP.