ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 11, 2007) – Security forces captured two suspected Abu Sayyaf militants in a raid on a hideout in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines, police and military said.
Police said the duo was captured late Monday on a village called Talabaan, east of Zamboanga.
No details about the duo were made available, except that they were being investigated in the kidnapping of three US citizens and 17 Filipinos from a posh resort in central Philippines six years ago.
The military confirmed the arrest of the two, but their names were withheld because of an ongoing operation to track down other militants hiding in Zamboanga City.
Other sources said one of the two men was identified as Adel Kamala, who is long wanted on charges of kidnappings in Basilan province, south of Zamboanga City.
The men were implicated in the kidnapping of Kansas missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and California man Guillermo Sobero and the Filipinos in Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province.
Last month, government soldiers also captured an Abu Sayyaf militant, Teteng Mandangan, linked to the Dos Palmas kidnappings, in the southern Tawi-Tawi province.
The Abu Sayyaf beheaded Sobero in Basilan province a month after the kidnapping while Martin Burnham was shot and killed the next year in a US-led military rescue operation in nearby Zamboanga del Norte province.
Gracia Burnham was rescued by Filipino troops, but she was also wounded. Some of the Filipino hostages were also killed and wounded by the Abu Sayyaf during their captivity.
The Burnham couple was celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary party on May 27, 2001 at Dos Palmas when the Abu Sayyaf attacked the resort.
Since her rescue, Gracia Burnham has written two books, 'In the Presence of My Enemies' and 'To Fly Again' and now works as a popular church speaker. (Mindanao Examiner)
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