ZAMBOANGA CITY – Police commandos killed a suspected Abu Sayyaf bomber in a firefight in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines, officials said Tuesday.
Officials said Admar Asilon, an alleged member of the Abu Sayyaf’s urban terrorist group under Marzan Ajijul, traded gunfire with police in the village of San Jose where he was tracked down late Monday.
The 35-year old Asilon was cornered in a building where he was eventually killed. According to a police report, Asilon was also a member of a gun-for-hire syndicate operating in Zamboanga City and neighboring province of Basilan.
“Moreover, subject person is known to be an active member of UTG under the leadership of Marzan Ajijul who operates in the East Coast of Zamboanga City and also a member of City Hunter a gun-for-hire group operating in Isabela City, Basilan and this city (Zamboanga),” the report said.
The operation against Asilon was launched by the 904th Mobile Company of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 9.
The killing of Asilon came barely a day after two ISIS suicide bombers blew themselves up at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo town in Sulu province.
Mayor Beng Climaco has urged residents to “be very vigilant against the presence of suspicious-looking persons and unattended packages in their community, and report them immediately to the authorities.”
She said security here has been heightened with police and military personnel, including other law enforcers, now on full alert. “Multiple layers of checkpoints have been established, particularly in thickly populated areas and at the borders or entry and exit points of the city,” Climaco said.
Just recently, local police also captured an Abu Sayyaf militant, Daud Isnani, in the village of Talon-Talon. The 33-year old Isnani is being linked to multiple kidnappings in Basilan.
Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Luis Licup, the regional police commander, said Isnani is facing 7 kidnapping charges in Basilan.
It was not immediately known whether the operation against Asilon was connected to the capture of Isnani, who was tracked down by members of the Regional Anti-Criminality Task Group of the Police Regional Intelligence Division 9. (Mindanao Examiner)
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