BI deports suspected Pakistani terrorist

June 19, 2019

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced the arrest of a Pakistani suspected of being suicide bomber and a member of the Dawlah Islamiya terrorist group.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente identified the Pakistani as Waqar Ahmad, 36, who was arrested last Tuesday by joint operatives from the BI Mindanao Intelligence Task Group (MITG) of the Philippine National Police in Zamboanga City.

Morente said Ahmad, who is in police custody, will undergo deportation proceedings for being an undesirable alien due to his alleged terrorist links and for working without a permit.

It was learned Ahmad was arrested after several days of intensive surveillance conducted by members of the Philippine National Police Intelligence Group RIU 9 at the appliance store of his Pakistani uncle in Zamboanga City where he worked as storekeeper and collector. 

BI records reveal Ahmad arrived on April 19.

“He (Ahmad) will be deported as his presence here is inimical to national security. He also violated our immigration laws by working here without applying for an employment visa,” the BI chief said.

He said  the Pakistani will be placed in the BI’s blacklist and banned from re-entering the country.

According to Morente, Ahmad claimed that he was working as a store keeper and collector in his uncle’s appliance center in Zamboanga City. 

“He did not even have the proper permit or visa to engage in work in the Philippines.  We highly doubt his story,” Morente said.

Morente cited international intelligence reports indicating Ahmad’s alleged links to the radical Islamist group Dawlah Islamiya, which allegedly has ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Maute group, both of which has been blamed for several bombing attacks in Mindanao. 

The same reports alleged he was set to meet with a ranking leader of the Abu Sayyaf group in Basilan to carry out suicide bombings in the province.

Authorities suspected that Dawlah Islamiya was behind the bomb explosion that wounded 18 people at a restaurant in Insulan, Sultan Kudarat last April 4. DMS