MANILA, Philippines - Security forces seized on Thursday a large quantity of explosive materials during a raid of a safe house of a man believed to be supplying bomb materials to the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf at Sulu’s capital town of Jolo, the Philippine News Agency reported.
The supplier, Hadji Abud Akmad, left his house prior to the raid conducted by troops from the 2nd and 3rd Marine Brigades and Jolo police station because he learned of the impending raid, said Sulu-based military spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo.
At around 1 p.m., Arevalo said the troops swooped down on the house of Akmad at Chinese Pier village in Jolo town based on a tip provided by an unnamed informant.
A search of the house yielded 14 sacks (25 kilos each) of ammonium nitrate; an additional 13 kilos of the same bomb ingredient; a sack of potassium chlorate; 3,600 pieces of blasting caps casings; 900 pieces of ready blasting caps; 13 rolls (at 7 meters each) of time blasting fuse, a 40mm caliber pistol with 14 rounds of live ammunition and; a passport of Akmad; a Nokia cellular telephone with battery and P80,000 cash in P1,000 denomination.
“Hadji Nahrin Abud Akmad, the reported owner of the house, is an alleged supplier of explosive components to terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group that perpetrated several bombing incidents in Sulu,” said Arevalo.
The latest bombing perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf was the April 3 landmine attack against Marine soldiers at Latih village in Patikul town, that resulted in the wounding of six soldiers and damage to the truck they were riding.
Arevalo said the seizure of the explosive materials aborted supposed plans by the Abu Sayyaf to carry out more attacks, principally to divert military focus from the ongoing hostage crisis in the province.
The Abu Sayyaf bandits are still holding two members of the International Committee of the Red Cross – Swiss Andreas Notter and Eugenio Vagni – in Sulu. The two, along with already released Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba, were abducted last Jan. 15.
“The confiscation of the said explosive devices and components aborted the reported bombing operations that the bandits intend to conduct,” said Arevalo.“Intelligence report gathered indicates that the bombing operations are to be directed against civilians and military personnel both to divert attention from the constricting operations the security forces are conducting and to terrorize the people of Sulu,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment