Malaysian terrorist Amin Baco is the new emir of ISIS in Southeast Asia
Malaysian terrorist Amin Baco is the new emir of ISIS in Southeast Asia, Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said Monday.
Dela Rosa said this was the information they got from arrested Indonesian terrorist Mohammad Ilham Syahputra.
“We received report na si Amin Baco na ang pumalit kay Isnilon Hapilon. Malaysian terrorist. E pwedeng umalis na sila dito,” he said in a press conference where he presented Syahputra.
“Si Amin Baco, leader hindi lang sa remaining Maute but as an emir of Southeast Asia ISIS,” he added.
He said Syahputra admitted that he was with Baco when they attacked Piagapo in Lanao del Sur.
Deputy Director General Fernando Mendez Jr, head of PNP Directorate for Operations, said Baco was one of the longest staying terrorists in the country.
“Nu’ng andun si Marwan (Zulkifli bin Hir) sa Lanao, andun siya (Baco). Sa Mamasapano andun din siya nakatira pero malayo lang siya sa pwesto ni Marwan,” he said.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Monday said they are still looking for Baco.
“We heard the news that he could be the successor of Isnilon as the emir [of ISIS].
Since they are already splintered, kalat-kalat na sila so hinahabol pa namin siya. ‘Pag nahuli namin siya e ‘di maganda,” he told reporters after the 78th anniversary of the Department of National Defense.
He believes Baco is not as high profile a leader as Hapilon.
“Obviously hindi naman lumalabas ang pangalan niya noon. Ngayon lang lumabas iyan. Maybe he is not as high profile as Isnilon,” he said.
“Siguro mga middle level lang iyan pero since wala nang leader na mas mataas sa kanya e he may be also taking over,” he added.
Lorenzana said he is not belittling the capacity of Baco but he believes he will not be able to gather as much force as Hapilon.
“Hindi naman sa minamaliit pero sa tingin ko they can no longer amass the number of troops na kaya ni Isnilon na dalhin sa Marawi—about 2,000 fighters fully equipped and fully armed and fully supplied with ammunition,” he said.
He reiterated that the Maute group is no longer a force to reckon with.
“They fight and run away so ‘yun ang problema ngayon, shoot and run sila. The problem now is to pursue them. When you pursue, they leave behind some explosives kaya nasusugatan ‘yung mga sundalo natin,” the Defense chief said.
Source: GMA Network
