AFP evaluating if Usman part of Davao threat

PEOPLE gather outside Davao City Hall on a normal day. INQUIRER MINDANAO

MANILA, Philippines—With international terror threat Basit Usman still at large, the Armed Forces of the Philippines is evaluating every angle on the possible source of the new brouhaha in Davao City.

“We are evaluating possible angles, we are not discounting if he is part of the threat,” Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala, AFP Public Affairs Office Chief, said.

Earlier reports say that Islamist terror group Abu Sayyaf is planning to sow terror in Davao City, Cotabato City and General Santos City after one of its bomb factories, wherein Usman was said to operate, was raided last June.

Usman has a $1-billion bounty that the United States put on his head while the AFP put P6.3-million.

“Usman is a subject of high interest and is a subject of law enforcement,” Zagala said.

He added that Usman trained under Fatur Rohman Al-Ghozi in the late 1990s and is linked with the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

“Basit Usman must be made accountable for his crimes,” Zagala said.

In response to the threat, the AFP has coordinated with the Philippine National Police in securing the area.

Various checkpoints that the joint forces man are scattered about in the region.

“We urge our citizens to be more vigilant and report to the authorities any information that would help our troops in our ongoing security operations against the terrorist,” Zagala said.

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