ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 11, 2013) – An Abu Sayyaf rebel who is among wanted by the military has surrendered to the army following a series of negotiations, officials said Sunday.
Officials said Abdurahin Nasalon surrendered to the anti-terrorist Task Force Zamboanga in the village of Curuan. Nasalon’s family helped in the negotiations for the surrender of the rebel, who is operating in Zamboanga City.
He yielded to Capt. Jerry Doldol, but details of the negotiations were unknown.
“The surrender of Nasalon was largely credited on the continued military and police operations. The presence of security forces also pressured Nasalon to surrender peacefully,” Capt. Jefferson Somera, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Somera, quoting a report from Col. Andrelino Colina, the task force commander, said the army is still interrogating Nasalon – who is number 6 on the military’s watch list – to determine his involved in kidnappings and terrorism.
“He is still being interrogated. We want to know whether he is involved in kidnappings and terrorism or the extent of his involvement with the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.
He said Nasalon’s surrender was due largely to the security operation of the authorities. “Nasalon admitted to interrogators that he was scared because of the operations of the military and police and so he decided to surrender peacefully,” Somera said.
Abu Sayyaf rebels are actively operating in Zamboanga and nearby provinces of Sulu and Basilan, all part of the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
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