AFP: MSU bombing suspect arrested

MANILA, Philippines — One of the alleged perpetrators of the Mindanao State University (MSU) bombing has been captured by authorities, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced yesterday.

Jafar Gamo Sultan, who also goes by the names Jaf and Kurot, is tagged as one of the accomplices in the terrorist attack that killed four people and injured some 50 others during a Catholic mass on Dec. 3.

AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said combined troops of Task Force Marawi and the Marawi City Police arrested Sultan on Wednesday.

The suspect, who was apprehended in an operation in Barangay Dulay Proper in Marawi, is said to be a companion of a certain Omar, the person identified by witnesses to have placed the improvised explosive device at the Dimaporo Gymnasium in the MSU. 

Trinidad said soldiers and police seized two motorcycles during the capture of Sultan, whose possible link to the Dawlah Islamiyah-Maute Group is being verified.

“This development shows the seriousness of the government in capturing the perpetrators of the terrorist attack on innocent civilians and in ensuring that similar incidents will not happen again. It also demonstrates the AFP’s commitment to its mandate as protector of the people and the state,” Trinidad declared.

The AFP earlier assured the public that the military and police have launched an extensive manhunt for the perpetrators of the MSU bombing.

Senior police and Army officials said it was with the help of members of Islamic religious communities in Lanao del Sur and Marawi that allowed authorities to trace the exact location of Sultan in Barangay Dulay, Marawi City.

One of the suspects in the bombing of at MSU was a former student of the university.

Kadapi Mimbesa alias Engineer was enrolled in the MSU in 1993 for Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering but stopped his studies, MSU secretary Shidik Abantas said over ANC.

“We ran through our database and then we found his name. We are confirming that he is our former student,” Abantas said.

Bangsamoro Autonomous Region police director Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza said Mimbesa and his unidentified companions are no longer in Marawi.

“They were not able