Counter-terrorism unit Densus 88 sent to the Philippines to ID alleged Indonesian suicide bombers behind church attack - Coconuts

Members of Densus 88, the Indonesian police's elite counter-terrorism squad, departed for the Philippines on Sunday to assist local authorities in identifying the suicide bombers behind an attack on a cathedral last week.

Twin explosions at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu province in Mindanao on January 27 left at least 21 dead and hundreds wounded.

At a press conference this morning, the Philippine National Police (PNP) this morning stated that they have arrested the prime suspect along with four alleged accomplices, though the attack's alleged mastermind remains on the run.

However, the identity and and nationality of the actual suicide bombers is still in question. The Philippines' minister of home affairs, Eduardo Año, said on Saturday that he was "certain" that the suicide bombers were Indonesians. He identified one of the alleged bombers as Abu Huda, whom he said had been residing in Sulu province for a long period, and the other bomber as Huda's wife (whose name has not been disclosed), who had only arrived in Sulu a few days before the bombings.

According to Año, the Indonesian couple aimed to be an example to Filipino terrorists who do not usually conduct suicide attacks, since it's "against their tradition and customs".

"They were aided by local [member of the terrorist group] Abu Sayyaf who acted as a guide, and probably conducted preliminary surveillance prior to the bombing," Año said, as quoted by CNN Philippines on Friday.

Indonesia's director of citizens protection and legal aid at the Foreign Ministry, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, said the Philippines' government had been "too hasty" with their accusations. However, the Indonesian government was still looking into Abu Huda's real identity and tracing his connection to terrorist networks.

"So far the Philippines' authorities don't have evidence that [the suicide bombers] were Indonesians because the DNA tests have yet to be concluded," Lalu told Kumparan today.

According to terrorism expert and director of the Community of Ideological Islamic Analysts (CIIA), Harits Abu Ulya, this isn't the first time Indonesians have been suspected of being involved in terrorist acts abroad, but so far none have been proven.

"The Philippines made Indonesian citizens into scapegoats because their intelligence products are weak, only relying on building hypothesis based in analogy," Harits told Kumparan on Sunday.

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