(Eagle News) — Authorities announced on Thursday the arrest of a Kuwaiti national and a Syrian woman believed to have direct links with the terrorist group ISIS.
In a joint statement, the Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration and National Bureau of Investigation said Husayn Al-Dhafiri and Rahaf Zina, who claimed to be his wife, were apprehended by members of the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit on 28th St., Bonifacio Global City, on March 25.
The BI worked in close coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police for the arrest made by virtue of a BI mission order.
According to the authorities, intelligence reports provided by the military said that Al-Dhafiri, who also goes by the aliases Warsh Al-Kuwaiti and Abu Muslim Al-Kuwaiti, is a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
They said he is “alleged to have been involved in explosives manufacturing and possibly on operational planning against Kuwait.”
They added that based on “official communications” forwarded to the (BI) by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, Al-Dhafiri “has links to terrorism and is believed to pose a threat to the national security of the Philippines.”
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said that the woman was “the widow of one of the ISIL leaders in Iraq who got killed during combat operations”
He said based on Kuwait Security Service information, this leader was Abu Jandal Al-Kuwaiti, the “number two military commander of ISIL operating in Syria.”
The Kuwaiti and Syrian nationals–who failed to present any immigration documents— were brought to the BI Main Office for investigation.
Authorities said Rahaz was also brought to the nearest hospital “for immediate medical examination as she claimed that she is pregnant.”
On March 26, 2017, both were turned over to the NBI for commitment in the detention facility.
“I congratulate our immigration officers for a job well done,” Aguirre said.
He said the “successful conduct of this apprehension speaks well of the competence and of the dedication of our immigration personnel.”
“I enjoin all of our immigration officers to continue serving dutifully and loyally regardless of their current circumstance because they are a valuable component of our government’s fight against criminality and in the global war against terror,” he added.
