ZAMBOANGA CITY – Local police have captured an Abu Sayyaf fighter, who allegedly took part in mass abductions and brutal murders of civilians in the southern Filipino province of Basilan over a decade ago.
Police said Wahab Salapuddin, alias Abu Damdam, was tracked down in his hideout in the coastal village of Sangali late Thursday afternoon. Salapuddin is also wanted by authorities in Basilan and had a string of criminal charges filed in court against him in connection to the Abu Sayyaf attack at a coconut plantation in Lantawan town.
More than a dozen, mostly farm workers, had been taken hostage in the town and eventually beheaded by the militant group tied to the Islamic State.
There were no other details on Salapuddin’s capture or how police managed to track down the militant, or if he was alone here or whether his group was planning to carry out attacks in Zamboanga. (Mindanao Examiner)
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