MANILA: Filipino authorities have arrested nine women reportedly being groomed as suicide bombers with some belonging to the family of Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, a Daesh-affiliated militant group leader killed in November, the country’s military announced on Tuesday.
The arrests were made during a series of raids in the southern province of Sulu on Friday, said Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom).
“Our troops, together with our partners from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and intelligence units, conducted a simultaneous implementation of search warrants in Jolo, Indanan, and Patikul, all of Sulu, at early dawn on Friday.
“This led to the apprehension of nine female potential suicide bombers who are related to some of the notorious leaders and members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG),” he added.
Meanwhile, Joint Task Force-Sulu public affairs officer, Lt. Jerrica Angela Manongdo, told Arab News that the raids were conducted simultaneously before dawn “to prevent the suspects from having the chance to coordinate with each other.”
She said: “The suspects were just in their house, but upon search by the authorities, they discovered bomb components. The raids were simultaneously implemented so the women could not cooperate with each other.”
Seven of the suspects were arrested in the villages of Bangkal and Latih in Patikul town, with three identified as the daughters of Sawadjaan. They were named as Elena Tasum Sawadjaan-Abun (the widow of an ASG sub-leader), 40, Isara Jalmaani Abduhajan, 36, and Jedah Abduhajan-Amin, 28.
The others being held were identified as Sawadjaan’s sister Linda Darun Maruji alias Appuh Yayang, 66, Risa Jalil, the wife of one of Sawadjaan’s nephews, Firdauzia Said alias Firdausia Salvin, the widow of ASG sub-leader Mannul Said, Sharifa Rajani also known as Indah Wida, and Indah Widz, the wife of another ASG member who had also worked under Sawadjaan.
The remainder, arrested in Tulay village, Jolo, were Nudzha Ismani Aslun, also known as Nudz and Akih, 26, the widow of an ASG member, and Nurshahada Isnain alias Dah, 19, the wife of a trusted aide of Mundi Sawadjaan, the reported mastermind of the recent suicide bombings in Sulu.
Officials said another raid was carried out in the town of Indanan, but “the target managed to elude arrest.”
Among items seized from the suspects were bomb components, including push-button switches, small batteries with a snap, blasting caps, suspected ammonium nitrate oil fuel or ANFO, a hand grenade, several identification cards, and a rough sketch of their terror plan.
The women are facing charges of illegal possession of explosives.
Vinluan said that those arrested had been on Wesmincom’s radar as a result of information provided by ASG sub-leaders who had surrendered to the authorities.
“We were tipped off ... that IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were being assembled in the house of the suspects. There were at least three or four houses. Once the IEDs are ready, that’s when the women get indoctrinated to prepare them to conduct suicide bombings.
“The widows and wives are being used because they (ASG) are having a hard time recruiting. It is also harder to detect female suicide bombers, so they use that. We have been monitoring them. The IEDs are with them, so it’s possible they are slowly being oriented,” the commander added.
Joint Task Force-Sulu Commander Maj. Gen. William Gonzales, said: “This is how desperate the remaining terrorists are, willing to sacrifice their families just to get back at government forces.”
He added that Filipino security forces would “exhaust all ... options to put an end to terrorism” in the south.
“May this serve as a clear message to the supporters and remaining members of the Abu Sayyaf Group. We are always ready to welcome those who wish to return to the folds of the law, but if you refuse to do so, we will surely hunt you down and prevent you from inflicting havoc in the communities,” Gonzales said.
Manongdo pointed out that officials were making “headway” in defeating terrorism.
“Remember Operation Perfect Storm operations on Nov. 3, 2020? One of those who died was Mannul, the projected (successor of Hajan) emir (Daesh Philippines). He died in an interdiction operation (at midsea), so his wife, typical of ASG wives, when their husband dies she will take revenge,” she said.
“Because of their extremist ideology, they are willing to do suicide bombings just like in the case of Cici,” she added, referring in part to Indonesian Rezky Fantasya Rullie, the widow of an Indonesian terrorist killed in Jolo. Known as Cici, she was arrested in October.
“If these kinds of acts continue, it will be unfair for the people of Sulu, which is now generally peaceful. Because even if there’s just one incident of bombing, this will affect the image of the military and the province. All other people here except the few terrorists are making efforts to secure the province,” Manongdo said.
The Philippines’ military confirmed in November the death of Sawadjaan who was on the US’ list of global terrorists and named as the mastermind behind the deadly 2019 cathedral bombing which left 23 people dead and 109 injured.
The ASG is a militant group notorious for kidnappings and its pledged allegiance to Daesh. Sulu province, in the country’s Mindanao region, is a known stronghold of the group.
Filipino authorities arrest 9 women ‘suicide bombers’
https://arab.news/ybvw2
Filipino authorities arrest 9 women ‘suicide bombers’
- The women were captured in raids on houses in three towns in the predominantly Muslim province of Sulu
South Korea halts loudspeaker broadcasts along border with rival North Korea
- The South resumed the loudspeaker broadcasts in June last year following a years-long pause
The South resumed the loudspeaker broadcasts in June last year following a years-long pause in retaliation for North Korea flying trash-laden balloons toward the South in a psychological warfare campaign.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday the move was part of efforts to “to restore trust in inter-Korean relations and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
Chinese aircraft carriers in Pacific show country’s ‘expansionist’ aims, Taiwan says
- China has been flexing its muscles by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters
TAIPEI: The two Chinese aircraft carriers spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time send a political message about the country’s “expansionist” aims, Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said on Wednesday.
Japan’s defense minister said the previous day that the appearance of the Chinese aircraft carriers signified Beijing’s intention to further widen its capabilities beyond its borders.
Koo said the armed forces had a “full grasp” of the carriers’ movements.
“Crossing from the first island chain into the second island chain sends a definite political message and their expansionist nature can be seen,” he told reporters in Taipei.
The first island chain refers to an area that runs from Japan down to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo, while the second island chain spreads further out into the Pacific to include places like the US territory of Guam.
China’s navy, which has been honing its abilities to operate farther and farther from the country’s coast, said on Tuesday the carrier operations were a “routine training” exercise that did not target specific countries or regions. China operates two carriers, with a third undergoing sea trials.
Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, keeps a close watch on Chinese military movements given the regular drills and war games Beijing stages around the island, and has been modernizing its weapons to better face the People’s Liberation Army.
Taiwan Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Ching-jan, speaking to lawmakers later on Wednesday, said a dozen or so of 66 Lockheed Martin F-16V fighter jets ordered from the United States should arrive this year, with the rest in 2026.
“The US side was optimistic about next year’s scheduled delivery at last month’s meeting on the project, and was very optimistic about the delivery of more than 10 aircraft this year,” he said.
Taiwan has complained about delivery delays for the jets, which have advanced avionics, weapons and radar systems to better face down the Chinese air force, including its J-20 stealth fighter.
Since May, China has been flexing its muscles by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals.
Japan’s defense ministry confirmed the two carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, were operating in separate areas of the Pacific on Saturday, both near remote southern islands belonging to Japan.
Earlier, Japan said the Liaoning sailed within its exclusive economic zone near Minamitorishima, a remote island east of Iwo Jima.
Australian murder suspect denies drying deadly mushrooms
- Erin Patterson denies all charges in the trial, which has made headlines worldwide
- She says the beef-and-pastry dish, which she cooked in individually sized portions, was poisoned by accident
SYDNEY: An Australian woman accused of murdering three people with death cap mushrooms denied Wednesday that she turned the fungi into dry powder for the fatal meal.
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering her estranged husband’s parents and aunt in July 2023 by spiking a beef Wellington lunch with the mushrooms.
She is also accused of attempting to murder a fourth lunch guest – her husband’s uncle – who survived the dish after a long stay in hospital.
Patterson denies all charges in the trial, which has made headlines worldwide.
She says the beef-and-pastry dish, which she cooked in individually sized portions, was poisoned by accident.
Three months before the lunch, phone records placed Patterson in the Victoria state township of Loch, where a sighting of death cap mushrooms had been posted online, the court heard.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers alleged that within two hours of finding death cap mushrooms in Loch, Patterson bought a dehydrator to use on the fungi.
Patterson admitted to buying the dehydrator.
But she denied purchasing it to dry the death cap mushrooms or that she went to Loch to find the dangerous fungi.
A month later, phone records placed Patterson in a second town in the area, Outtrim, just days after a sighting of death cap mushrooms had been posted online, the court heard.
Patterson denied she went to the area to find the fungi, but said she may have driven by the area.
Rogers suggested Patterson “blitzed” the death cap mushrooms into a powder in order to hide them in the meal.
“Disagree,” Patterson said.
The court heard Patterson had told people that she served the beef Wellington leftovers to her children a day after the lunch, as her sickened guests lay in hospital.
The accused said she scraped off the mushroom and pastry from the dish because her children were fussy eaters.
The prosecutor asked Patterson why she would feed leftovers to her children, while knowing or suspecting that the same meal had put her guests in hospital.
“I didn’t know or suspect that,” Patterson replied.
The prosecutor accused her of telling a “lie about feeding the leftovers” because it gave her “some distance from a deliberate poisoning.”
Patterson replied: “I don’t see how it could, but I disagree.”
The home cook had also invited her estranged husband Simon to join the family lunch at her secluded home in the Victoria state farm village of Leongatha.
But Simon turned down the invitation saying he felt uncomfortable going, the court heard previously. The pair were long estranged but still legally married.
Simon’s parents Don and Gail, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, attended the lunch. All three were dead within days.
Heather’s husband Ian fell gravely ill but recovered.
The trial in Morwell, southeast of Melbourne, is expected to last another two weeks.
Former student kills 10 in Austrian high school shooting
- Shooter acted alone and took his own life in the toilet at Dreierschuetzengasse high school in Graz
- Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities in recent years that were not connected to terrorism
GRAZ, Austria: Austria will observe a national day of mourning and a minute’s silence on Wednesday after a former student shot dead 10 people at a high school in an unprecedented case of gun violence that stunned the Alpine country.
The 21-year-old shooter acted alone and took his own life in the toilet at Dreierschuetzengasse high school in Graz, police said.
Investigators found a good-bye letter addressed to the suspect’s parents during a search of his residence, but it included no clues about his motive.
After arriving in Graz, Chancellor Christian Stocker described the shooting as “a national tragedy.”
“This is a dark day,” he told reporters Tuesday as he announced three days of national mourning. A minute’s silence will be observed across the country at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Wednesday.
Nine victims were immediately confirmed and a woman died later in hospital from her wounds, an official said. A 17-year-old French student was among the victims, his father said.
Twelve people suffered serious injuries and police said support was being provided to witnesses and those affected.
According to police, the alleged perpetrator was an Austrian from the Graz region who used two legally owned weapons.
He was a former student at the high school, but never finished his studies there, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters.
Bouquets of flowers and candles were placed in front of the school, which has around 400 students aged between 14 and 18, and nearby businesses closed.
One resident, originally from the United States, whose children attend a nearby elementary school and kindergarten, said she was “shocked” and it was “a lot to take in.”
“In my home country it happens more often as we know, but that it happens here is unheard of,” she said, declining to give her name.
“Graz is a safe city,” said Roman Klug, 55, who said he lived close to the school that he said was “known for its openness and diversity.”
Condolences poured in from across Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that “France extends its deepest sympathy to the victims’ families, the Austrian people and Chancellor Stocker during this difficult time.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said “our thoughts are with our Austrian friends and neighbors” following the “horrific” shooting.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban offered his “deepest condolences.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “the news from Graz touches my heart,” while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her sympathies to the families of the victims following the “tragic news.”
Attacks in public are rare in Austria, which is home to almost 9.2 million people and ranks among the 10 safest countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index.
While still less common than in the United States, Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities in recent years that were not connected to terrorism.
In France, a teaching assistant was killed in a knife attack at a school in the eastern town of Nogent on Tuesday.
In January, an 18-year-old man fatally stabbed a high school student and a teacher at a school in northeastern Slovakia.
And in December, a 19-year-old man stabbed a seven-year-old student to death and injured several others at a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia.
In December 2023, an attack by a student at a university in central Prague left 14 people dead and 25 injured.
A few months earlier, a 13-year-old gunned down nine fellow classmates and a security guard at an elementary school in Belgrade.
Pentagon slashes in half its request for Air Force F-35s – media report
- The Air Force now plans to seek $3.5 billion for the F-35 aircraft, and another $531 million for advance procurement of materials for it
The Pentagon is scaling back by half its request to Congress for the US Air Force’s Lockheed Martin F-35 jets, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
A US Defense Department procurement request document sent to Capitol Hill this week asked for 24 of the planes, down from 48 that were forecast last year, the report said.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Lockheed Martin and the Department of Defense did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
The Air Force now plans to seek $3.5 billion for the F-35 aircraft, and another $531 million for advance procurement of materials for it, the report said.
The Pentagon has also requested 12 of the Navy’s carrier version of the F-35, lower than the 17 Congress approved for this fiscal year, while the Marines would also see a reduction of two from this year’s funding, the report added.
In May, Lockheed Martin’s finance chief said the firm expects to be awarded a finalized contract on its F-35 jets, which have been beset by delays related to a technology upgrade.
The defense contractor delivered a total of 110 F-35 fighter jets to the United States and its allies in 2024. Lockheed’s F-35 program accounts for around 30 percent of the company’s revenue.
