DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday declared the Sept. 2 bombing in Davao City closed with the arrest of three members of the dreaded Maute terrorist group in Cotabato on Tuesday.
Lorenzana said the suspects, identified TJ Tagadaya Macabalang, Wendel Apostol Facturan and Musali Mustapha, were arrested at a Army and police checkpoints while they tried to evade authorities on a motorcycle with no license plate.
Authorities seized from the suspects various components for improvised explosive devices, a sub-machine gun, a .45 caliber pistol, a motorcycle, and various cellular phones. One of the cellphones had a video recording of the Davao bombing.
Officials said Macabalang detonated the bomb that was “planted” by Facturan while Mustapha took a video of the incident. The video recording was supposed to be used for propaganda, Lorenzana said.
“There are indications that the Maute group is trying to align themselves with the Isis as seen in the recovered video. We have also established their link with the Abu Sayyaf,” said Army chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Ano. (pna)
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