Philippine authorities said on April 6 they had foiled a possible terror attack after arresting a Kuwaiti man and his Syrian wife, both alleged members of the Islamic State (IS) group. Police nabbed Husayn Al-Dhafiri and Rahaf Zina at an upscale district of Manila following a tip-off from the Kuwaiti authorities late last month, but the arrests were kept secret while Filipino authorities investigated further, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / Noel CELIS
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – A Kuwaiti man suspected to be a member of the Islamic State group was Friday deported by the Philippines to face charges at home, a justice department official said.
Hussein Al-Dhafiri, one of the two suspected IS members arrested in the Philippines last month, was flown out of the country to Kuwait, undersecretary Erickson Balmes said.
A statement from the Kuwaiti embassy said Dhafiri was due to be tried in his home country. “Evidence obtained by Kuwait’s state security agencies also showed that he is planning to carry out terroristic attacks in the State of Kuwait,” the statement said.
Dhafiri was arrested along with a Syrian woman Rahaf Zina, also named as a member of the jihadist group.
Zina and Dhafiri married after her high-ranking IS commander husband was killed in Syria, said Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre.
He earlier said the pair had entered the country as part of plans for “a bombing operation” in the Philippines or Kuwait.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned that IS members might make their way into the country by infiltrating its Muslim communities, concentrated in the south of the largely Catholic country.
The Philippines has been battling with Muslim extremist groups for years in the remote southern region, some of whom have since pledged allegiance to IS.
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