DOJ verifying if nabbed ISIS members contacted local terrorists

National Bureau of Investigation ( NBI) DOJ Sec Vitaliano Aguirre together with Immigration Commisioner Jaime Morente present couple allegedly members of ISIS , Thrusday April 6,2017. BI identifies the male suspect as Hussein Aldhafiri the female is wife of ISIS number 2 man according to Aguirre. INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

The authorities are tracing contacts made and possible connections made to local terror groups of the two arrested foreign nationals who are members of the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said.

“We are going to continue in partnership with our intelligence units to verify if there are other persons involved,” said Vitaliano Aguirre.

Kuwaiti national Husayn Al-Dhafiri and Syrian national Rahaf Zina, both ISIS members, were arrested last March 25 by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Husayn is involved in explosives manufacturing and possibly on operational planning against Kuwait, while Rehaf is the widow of the slain Abu Jandal Al-Kuwaiti, who is the number two military commander of the ISIS operating in Syria.

The two whose arrests stemmed from the deportation request of the Kuwaiti Embassy are currently detained at the National Bureau Investigation (NBI) while awaiting the finalization of the deportation proceedings against them.

The NBI said the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) and the National Intelligence Coordination Agency (NICA) also wanted to question the two arrested ISIS members.

“The government’s law enforcement agencies might want to investigate them so the two might eventually get transferred to either the police or the military,” Aguirre said.

Immigration records showed that Husayn has been in and out of the Philippines since last year armed with a tourist visa.

But this year, Aguirre said the two has been in the country since Jan 28 with a working visa facilitated by a local company called Q8 Solutions.

Here, the two travelled to Davao for four days and stayed in Cebu for three days.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said it is possible that the two made contact with members of the local terror group Maute.

“That is a possibility and that is being investigated by our intelligence service,” assured Morente.

“I think the military is very much aware of this. They are validating this information,” he added. JE