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Kenyan supporter of Al-Qaeda terror group falls in Zambales
FILE: AL-QAEDA SUPPORTER. Photo shows a mugshot of Kenyan national Cholo Abdi Abdullah, an alleged Al-Qaeda supporter who was nabbed in a search warrant operation in Zambales on Monday (July 1, 2019). Abdullah is studying to be a pilot at All Asia Aviation Academy and is allegedly doing research on different aviation threats, aircraft hijacking and falsifying travel documents.
(Photo courtesy: CIDG via PNA)
MANILA — Authorities have arrested an alleged supporter of the Al-Qaeda terror group in Zambales on Monday.
Police Maj. Gen. Amador Corpuz, director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), identified the suspect as Cholo Abdi Abdullah, a Kenyan national, who was arrested at the Rasca Hotel in Iba, Zambales around 3:30 p.m.
Abdullah is the subject of a search warrant issued by the Mariveles, Bataan Regional Trial Court for illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Corpuz said the operation is a joint effort of the intelligence operatives of the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines and foreign agencies.
“The joint team requested the CIDG for the application of a corresponding search warrant to search the hotel where the respondent was staying. The Kenyan national is identified with the Al-Qaeda. So he pledged allegiance to the Al-Qaeda group since 2012 and he has been wanted for a long time. It so happened that he was last located in the Philippines that’s why the foreign counterparts coordinated with the PNP and AFP for the immediate arrest of this Kenyan national,” the CIDG chief told reporters in press briefing on Tuesday.
Founded by Osama bin Laden in 1988, Al-Qaeda is a Sunni Islamist militant organization responsible for various terror acts, including the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
Recovered from him were a 9-mm pistol, magazine and ammunition, an Improvised Explosive Device, a hand grenade and other bomb-making components.
Abdullah is studying to be a pilot at All Asia Aviation Academy and is allegedly doing research on different aviation threats, aircraft hijacking and falsifying travel documents.
“We are still investigating as to why he enrolled at All Asia Aviation Academy that is based in Pasay. They have a flight instruction school in Iba, Zambales. The suspect has been staying since 2017 in Iba, Zambales,” said Corpuz.
He added that the AFP and PNP have yet to determine where to detain the suspect.
The Kenyan national is set to face charges for violations of Republic Act 10591 (Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act) and R.A. 9516 (Illegal Possession of Explosives).
