COTABATO CITY – Security forces captured four alleged terrorists hours ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Saturday visit to Cotabato City in southern Philippines, officials said.
Army soldiers and police commandos raided several hideouts of the jihadist group of Abdullah Maute and seized the men. Several weapons, ammunition and improvised explosives had been recovered from the hideouts, all in Cotabato City.
It was not immediately known how security forces tracked down the terrorists, but their arrest came weeks after the military and police arrested TJ Macabalang, the prime suspect in the deadly bombing of a crowded night market in Davao City on September 2 that killed 69 people.
Macabalang and his father Teng and two other men – also members of the Maute group – had been arrested in Cotabato City, the seat of the government of the Muslim autonomous region that Duterte visited.
It was unknown whether Duterte was informed by authorities on the capture of the terrorists who were also being linked by the police to the Davao bombing.
Duterte distributed awards and aids to poor families during his visit and spoke political rhetoric to hundreds of people led by Mujiv Hataman, the regional governor, who welcomed him for the launching of the Comprehensive Reform and Development Agenda. (Mindanao Examiner)
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