Manila: Police in the Philippines say they have thwarted a plan by the Maute group to set off bombs in Metro Manila, following the arrest of a key member of the Lanao-based militant organisation.
Nasip Ebrahim, 35, was arrested inside the Salam Compound in Quezon City on Monday evening, Director-General Ronald dela Rosa said.
“Alert operatives of the National Capital Region Police Office foiled a plan to detonate an improvised explosive device in Metro Manila as the bomb was being prepared by terrorists for delivery to a possible target,” Dela Rosa said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
Police raided Ebrahim’s house which is adjacent to his variety store in the village of Culiat.
Seized from Ebrahim’s possession were two pistols, a machine pistol as well as a 60mm mortar shell which was already rigged to an electronic detonating device, authorities said.
A small packet of crystal methamphetamine or “shabu” was also recovered.
“I do not want to sound alarmist or cause panic, but prudence is the better part of valour. I therefore, urge our people to remain calm yet alert and vigilant of the presence of threats in our midst,” Dela Rosa said.
The police chief said, while Ebrahim lived most of his life in Metro Manila, he is a native of Marawi City, the same province where the leaders of the militant group the Maute Brothers came from.
“We have still to uncover the circumstances surrounding this incident involving the Maute group, but, this discovery leads us to believe that the terror organisation has already established a presence in Metro Manila, as to what extent, that is the subject of our follow up investigation and operations,” Dela Rosa said.
Director Oscar Albayalde of the National Capital Region Police Office said they have reason to believe that Ebrahim was among those who took part in the attempt to bomb the US Embassy in Manila in December last year.
Casualties from the bombing were avoided after the discovery of the IED moments before it was supposed to explode.
“Ebrahim is said to have been the one who served as a driver that transported the bomb used in the failed bombing to Manila through a ferry,” said Albayalde.
The foiled bombing of the US Embassy in Manila came weeks after the September 2, 2016 terror attack at a night market in Davao City that killed 15 people and injured dozens of others.
It is believed the Maute group is behind the bombing.
Officials say Maute is attempting to establish a caliphate in the Philippines, similar to that founded by the Daesh in the Middle East.
Earlier intelligence officials said Maute was trying to link up and unify with other extremist organisations such as the western Mindanao-based Abu Sayyaf as well as the Luzon island-based Rajah Soliman Group.
