NBI agents present Hussein Azo Aldgafiri alias Warsh Al-Kuwaiti, a Kuwaiti national; and Raja Zina, a Syrian, to the media.
/ Aie Balagtas See
Two foreign nationals with suspected links to Islamic State (IS) were arrested in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig last week.
A military report obtained from a source said that the foreign couple — identified as Hussein Azo Aldgafiri alias Warsh Al-Kuwaiti, a Kuwaiti national; and Raja Zina, a Syrian — were arrested last March 25.
Ak-Dhafiri is allegedly involved in explosives manufacturing and possibly on operational planning against Kuwait.
Hussein is identified as an IS middle-level leader and a brother of a former IS leader (now deceased). Raja, whose father is a friend of Hussein’s brother, is four or five months pregnant.
The two reportedly failed to present any immigration document during verification.
The military leadership, meanwhile, refused to give an official statement.
“I am not at liberty to announce at this moment. All I can tell you is that there was an interagency operation which was geared towards the protection of our nation against any threat from foreign terrorist organization,” Armed Forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said in a press briefing on Thursday.
He did not give details of the arrest, saying the Department of Justice is supposed to make the announcement.
Padilla also dismissed the threat on the presence of suspected foreign terrorists in the country.
“The presence of the threat is not what is critical, what is very important and critical to the Armed Forces is its ability to respond when a threat becomes active. Based on our assessment we are leaning forward and we are proactively engaged with all these threats. Once they become active, we can confidently say that we can protect you against these threats,” Padilla said.
At the Department of Justice, the suspects were presented to the media by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II Thursday afternoon.