ZAMBOANGA CITY – Navy seals have captured 6 suspected Abu Sayyaf members, one of them a notorious hired killer wanted in Zamboanga City for a string of criminal charges, officials said.
Officials said the suspects – Omar Amping, 39; Gabby Juwa, 35; Jadi Luhadi, 21; Alcimel Abdulla, 18; Madi Jalilul, 19, and Sakkam Dekani, 60 – were pursuing a fishing vessel in two speedboats when intercepted by soldiers and eventually arrested on Monday evening off Bolod Island near Tongkil town in Sulu province.
Soldiers also seized an M16 automatic rifle and dozens of ammunition from the militants who are currently being interrogated. One of them, Amping, is wanted by the police in Zamboanga and had been linked to the 207 bombing at Plaza Pershing that wounded over a dozen civilians.
Local police authorities, then under Senior Superintendent Manuel Barcena, also tagged Amping as a military informant, an allegation strongly denied by then Southern Command chief Major General Nelson Allaga. Barcena said 3 alleged militants, Marjuni Ammala, Aristalon Isniril and Ronely Ahman who were captured by the police, had tagged Amping as the one who recruited and provided them the improvised explosive used in the attack.
The capture of Amping and the others came after a pro-government militiaman reported to the Philippine Navy under Rear Admiral Rene Medina that the fishing vessel Nancy 888 was being harassed by Amping’s group.
The gunmen had pursued the fishing boat from Saluping Island in Basilan province until the soldiers – who were deployed by Medina to respond to the incident – caught up with the gang and eventually arrested all of them. Medina said the Quick Reaction Team of Naval Task Force 61 – with patrol craft BRP Manuel Gomez and one Navy Seal team – was immediately deployed in the area to save the fishing crew from possible hijacking and kidnapping.
He said Amping’s group was taken to the headquarters of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao in Zamboanga. “Further investigation revealed that Omar Amping is a notorious gun-for-hire and ranked 4th in the Most Wanted List of Personalities in Zamboanga City with two standing warrant of arrest for five counts of murder,” Medina said.
Amping was previously arrested by the police, but had been freed for a still unknown reason. In 2010, Amping’s cousin Beniser, a former soldier who was also wanted by the police for multiple murder cases, was captured in Zamboanga. Hired killers are actively operating in Zamboanga and had been blamed for many gun attacks here. (Al Jacinto)
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