ZAMBOANGA CITY – Philippine policemen have killed a suspected Abu Sayyaf gunman who may be involved in the spate of kidnappings in Malaysia’s oil-rich state of Sabah.
The gunman, who was initially identified as Muktadil, was fatally shot during a firefight late Wednesday afternoon in Jolo town in Sulu province following a police raid on his hideout.
Muktadil was trying to escape from pursuing policemen when shot dead during a running gun battle. No policemen or civilians were killed or injured in the fighting.
Authorities were still trying to verify whether the slain rebel was among those that recently kidnapped Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, the manager of Ocean King Seafood Restaurant in Sabah’s Sandakan town; and customer Bernard Ghen Ted Fen, 39.
Malaysian policemen said four gunmen raided the restaurant on the evening of May 14 and seized the duo.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the abductions, but authorities in Sabah have linked two siblings Nilson Muktadil, who is his 30s; and Badong, alias Adzmil Muktadil, in his 40s, to the latest abductions.
The Muktadil brothers are natives of Southern Philippines and were also tagged as behind the kidnapping of Chinese tourist Gao Huayun, 29, and Filipino worker Marcy Dayawan, 40, in Sabah in April last year.
Just recently, troops also clashed with suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels in the village of Panducan in Sulu’s Pangutaran town that left a still undetermined number of gunmen dead and wounded, according to the Western Mindanao Command.
Sulu is being used by the Abu Sayyaf as their hideout because of its thick, virgin forests and rugged terrain that makes the province a suitable hideout and base for the notorious rebel group linked by the Philippine military to al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiya and now ISIS. (Mindanao Examiner)
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