ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 25, 2008) – Military agents arrested Monday a suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebel at a coastal village in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga, intelligence sources said.
The man was said to be a follower of MILF commander Usman Lidjal, who has been previously tagged by the military and police as behind the spate of terrorism and kidnappings in Basilan island.
The details of the arrest were not immediately known, but the man was nabbed in the village of Maasin.
The rebel is being investigated at the Western Mindanao Command headquarters, but it unknown if the man had anything to do with the series of grenade attacks in Zamboanga City or what his mission was.
A fragmentation grenade exploded late Saturday inside the port of Zamboanga City, although there were no reports of casualties.
Police said an MK2 grenade was used in the attack. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the blast, but it was fourth grenade attack in a span of two weeks in Zamboanga City.
Nine people were wounded in an MK2 grenade attack outside the Marcian Business Hotel in downtown Zamboanga on August 20. A grenade was hurled inside the Cinema 5 at Mindpro Mall here on August 15, but it failed to explode.
An MK2 grenade was also used in the August 12 attack at the central police headquarters here, although no one was hurt or killed in the blast.
In June, four policemen were injured in a grenade attack at their base in the town of Kabasalan in Zamboanga Sibugay province, about 120 kilometers from here.
Previous bombings in Zamboanga City had been largely blamed to the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front. (Mindanao Examiner)
No comments:
Post a Comment