Ustadz detained in connection with Lamitan bomb attack

COTABATO CITY - Authorities arrested Thursday a cleric named Indalin Jainul in connection with Tuesday’s deadly bomb attack in Lamitan City.The 58-year-old Jainuil resides in Barangay Maganda in Lamitan City, not too distant from the spot where a van loaded with explosives went off, killing ten people, one of them an Army Ranger.Four of the fatalities were members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit.Relatives and friends of Jainul have denied insinuations he was one of the plotters of the bombing, Basilan’s worst in contemporary years.Lamitan City is the capital of Basilan.The bomb-laden van, apparently en route to the center of Lamitan City, was first flagged down by CAFGU members guarding a roadside checkpoint at the border of Barangays Maganda and Bulanting when they saw large cylindrical containers inside.The van’s still unidentified driver detonated the explosives when a team of soldiers arrived to search the vehicle.Officials of different barangays in Lamitan City have urged the military to investigate on the links of Jainul with Islamic militants in the Middle East.Local officials in municipalities around Lamitan City told reporters he was rumored to have open communication lines with certain radical clerics in the Middle East and in North Africa.