SUMISIP, Basilan – A Malaysian terror suspect has been arrested in Maluso town reportedly while about to flee the country via the so-called backdoor, a military official said on Wednesday.
Col. Cirilo Thomas Donato, commander of the Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade, said Ahmad Tarmizi Bin Muhamad Sayoti was among several foreigners suspected of joining the terrorist Abu Sayyaf group here.
“He was about to leave Basilan via the backdoor when arrested about two weeks ago,” Donato told the Inquirer.
He said the Malaysian terror suspect had been turned over to the military.
Donato said Sayoti’s arrest was brought about by “cooperation from civilians,” who linked him to the Abu Sayyaf.
“He was seen inside the camp of the Abu Sayyaf, he was seen joining the Abu Sayyaf in encounters against the (government) troops, and there were pictures of Sayoti holding and raising the shahada flag, holding firearms. Most likely, he was a foreign terrorist. During the arrest, we also recovered from him an improvised explosive device,” Donato said.
He said there were reportedly several foreigners fighting alongside the Abu Sayyaf.
He recalled that when the 4th Special Forces Battalion occupied and retook four hills that the Abu Sayyaf had occupied in Tipo-tipo town a few weeks back, soldiers recovered several Malaysian passports.
Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao had said that aside from Malaysians, a Jamaican terrorist was also reported to be moving around Tipo-tipo and was conducting indoctrination on the beliefs and practices of the Islamic State (IS).
Hataman urged the locals to make their villages hostile to foreign terrorists, saying foreign issues were different from those of the Basilan people.
“If you (communities) take a strong stand against these extremists, these terrorists will not thrive here,” Hataman said.
Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., the spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command, said the intelligence community has been working to identify and “do something” about the foreign terrorists reportedly roaming around Basilan.