Philippine troops are on heightened alert after authorities received reports of impending terror attacks in Mindanao. (Photo by Erwin Mascarinas)
Philippine authorities Sunday raised security alert levels in the southern region of Mindanao after receiving intelligence reports that a Jemaah Islamiyah bomb expert is planning to explode car bombs in southern cities.
"We have sources who said [the terrorist group] is manufacturing [improvised explosive devices] that they will use," a senior military official said on condition of anonymity.
The official said Abdul Basit Usman, a bomb-making expert for the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, was planning attacks in the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
Usman is reportedly out to avenge the death on June 10 of two of his men and the arrest of four others, including his wife, during a raid on a suspected bomb factory in Maguindanao province.
The US government has offered a US$1 million bounty for the capture of Usman. Reports in 2010 that the bomb expert was killed in a drone attack in Afghanistan have proven to be incorrect.
"Their plan is to try to use a car bomb, rig a car with a bomb, and explode it," the official said, adding that Usman's group was behind a series of bomb explosions in Mindanao in the past.
Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, Philippine National Police spokesman, confirmed that the police received information regarding "a possible terrorist threat in southern Mindanao".
Sindac declined to reveal details "so as not to compromise ongoing security operations", adding that "preemptive security measures" were already in place.
The military and the police have set up checkpoints and deployed intelligence personnel around vital installations such as airports and passenger terminals in Mindanao.
Bishop Martin Jumoad of Basilan called for "vigilance" as he urged people not to take the threat lightly.
"It would be good if local government units call a peace and order meeting with religious leaders, Muslims and Christians," Jumoad said, adding that "everybody must be involved to have peace".
The reported terrorist threat came as Muslims in Mindanao began celebrating the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
