ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 24, 2012) – Philippine authorities captured an Abu Sayyaf rebel in his hideout in Zamboanga City for the 2002 kidnappings of Christian missionaries in the southern province of Sulu, officials said Saturday.
Officials said the rebel, who was only identified by his alias Tuma, is implicated to the kidnappings of 6 members of the Jehova’s Witness in Patikul town.
“The operation was launched by combined elements from the (Army’s) Task Force-Zamboanga, the Air Force and Zamboanga police and this resulted to the arrest of Tuma who is wanted for kidnappings, among other charges,” Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examienr.
He said the rebel was captured in his hideout in the village of Tulungatung on Friday after security forces tracked him down.
Maj. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, the regional army commander, said the capture of Tuma was the result of the Oplan Bayanihan, a codename for the government’s Internal Peace and Security Plan.
“As long as there are strong IPSP supporters in our localities, we are confident in hunt against lawless group,” Cruz said.
In September, army soldiers in nearby Zamboanga del Norte province also captured two Abu Sayyaf rebels implicated in the kidnapping of 21 people, including three US citizens, from a posh Filipino resort in the 2001.
The two men – Imam Pai and Aling – were captured in their hideout in Labason town.
The duo was among those who kidnapped holidaymakers, among them a US missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, and California man Guillermo Sobero, in Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province.
Sobero was eventually killed and Martin Burnham was shot during a US-led military rescue operation in Zamboanga del Norte. Burnham’s wife was rescued, but wounded after being hit by a stray bullet in the fire fight between troops and rebels.
Authorities have linked the Abu Sayyaf to the spate of terrorism and kidnappings in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
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