MANILA, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Philippine authorities detained an Indonesian man suspected of links with the pro-Islamic State militant group that took over the southern Philippine city of Marawi for five months, the military and police said on Wednesday.
John Guyguyon, police chief of Lanao del Sur province, said the suspect is a 22-year-old Indonesian from Medan, the capital of Indonesia's North Sumatra province.
Guyguyon said the suspect was arrested by soldiers and policemen on Wednesday in one of the villages while government security forces were conducting a clearing operation of the area previously controlled by pro-IS militants.
Guyguyon said the suspect confessed to investigators that he entered the Philippines in November last year.
"According to him, he was invited by Isnilon Hapilon to be part of the IS struggle in the Philippines," he said, referring to the Abu Sayyaf leader who was killed last month when troops assaulted the last lair of the extremists.
Guyguyon said the suspect even fought with government troops during a clash between troops and Maute-Abu Sayyaf fighters in Piagapo town, Lanao del Sur in April this year barely a month before the Marawi siege.
Col. Romeo Brawner, one of the military commanders in Marawi, said the Indonesian suspect was further investigated.
Philippine authorities said Indonesian and Malaysian IS fighters helped the Maute-Abu Sayyaf fighters plotting the Marawi attack.
The five-month fierce fighting killed more than 1,000 people, including 165 soldiers and policemen and more than 900 militants, and left the city in complete ruin. The conflict also displaced more than 400,000 residents.
