Daughter of couple in Jolo blast being trained as suicide bomber, says Army

Security forces rescued a minor identified as Sitti Aisyah Rullie or Maryam Isran in Sulu, Major General William Gonzales, commander of the 11th Infantry Division, said. 

The official said she is an Indonesian who is being indoctrinated in conducting bombings.  She is also the wife of the original target of the operation, Jihiiran.

Commander of the 45th Infantry Battalion Lieutenant Colonel Vicente Mabborang Jr. said Aisya Rullie is a daughter of the Indonesian couple who involved in the Jolo Cathedral bombing in 2019.

"She is the daughter of foreign terrorists Rullie Rian Zeke and Ulfa Handayani Saleh, the suicide bombers in the Jolo Cathedral blast,” Mabborang said in Filipino.

He added that Aisya's sibling Rezky Fantasya Rullie alias Cici was earlier arrested in a raid in Jolo in 2020.

According to authorities, Aisya Rullie is still a minor.

“We are in the process of validating but she is estimated to be 13 years of age. Still, we in the security sector have no choice but to coordinate with concerned agencies and act on this.”

“She is married to a full pledged ASG, her older brother is an armed member under the Daulah Islamiyah group, and per intel reports she is being groomed as a suicide bomber. There is a risk here," Gonzales said.

He expressed hope that the minor could be “deracialized and have another chance at a decent life.”

According to the military, from seven in 2019, there are only two remaining foreign terrorists in the province, identified as Indonesian Ahmad Ibrahim Rullie, and an Egyptian with alias Abdurahman. Both of them are minors.

Meanwhile, an alleged member of Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was killed in a joint police and military operation in Patikul, Sulu on Wednesday, the Joint Task Force –Sulu said on Thursday.

Elements from the Philippine National Police and 11th Infantry Division had a shootout with four suspected ASG members in Barangay Bangkal while serving an arrest warrant against Rudymar Habib Jihiiran or “Gulam."

Gonzales said Gulam and his comrades shot at the authorities resulting in a firefight.

An alias "Sawi," an alleged bandit under Amah Patit, was killed during the encounter.

Among the recovered items in the target house were olive green backpack containing an electric blasting cap, a 12 inches long blue detonating cord , a pair of 9 volts battery, and cellphones.—LDF, GMA News