ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 9, 2008) – Philippine authorities are holding an Abu Sayyaf militant captured in the southern island of Basilan, where security forces are pursuing other members of the group blamed for the spate of bombings and kidnappings in the troubled region.
Basilan island police chief Salik Macapantar said police commandos, backed by army soldiers, captured Sali Alih in Lamitan City on Friday. He said civilian informants led security forces in the capture of Alih, who was implicated in the beheading of 14 soldiers in fierce clashes last year in Al-Barka town.
Alih’s arrest was only announced on Monday because of on going police operations in the island, just several miles off Zamboanga City.
“We are still interrogating the terrorist, but one thing is sure here, Salih Alih is involved in last year’s beheading of 14 soldiers in Al-Barka town. He is a notorious member of the Abu Sayyaf group and is also implicated in the attack on Lamitan seven years ago. The long arm of the law finally catches on him,” Macapantar told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said Alih belongs to the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Furuji Indama, blamed for the attacks on military patrols in Basilan island. Alih was traveling on a motorcycle with another companion when police forces captured him. His companion was briefly held, but freed later by the police for lack of evidence to link him to the Abu Sayyaf.
The Abu Sayyaf is a small, but the most dreaded among local Muslim rebel groups in the southern Philippines. Filipino authorities linked the Abu Sayyaf also known as Al-Harakatul al-Islamiya, which means “bear of the sword” to the al-Qaeda terror network and the Indonesian militant group Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)
Basilan island police chief Salik Macapantar said police commandos, backed by army soldiers, captured Sali Alih in Lamitan City on Friday. He said civilian informants led security forces in the capture of Alih, who was implicated in the beheading of 14 soldiers in fierce clashes last year in Al-Barka town.
Alih’s arrest was only announced on Monday because of on going police operations in the island, just several miles off Zamboanga City.
“We are still interrogating the terrorist, but one thing is sure here, Salih Alih is involved in last year’s beheading of 14 soldiers in Al-Barka town. He is a notorious member of the Abu Sayyaf group and is also implicated in the attack on Lamitan seven years ago. The long arm of the law finally catches on him,” Macapantar told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said Alih belongs to the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Furuji Indama, blamed for the attacks on military patrols in Basilan island. Alih was traveling on a motorcycle with another companion when police forces captured him. His companion was briefly held, but freed later by the police for lack of evidence to link him to the Abu Sayyaf.
The Abu Sayyaf is a small, but the most dreaded among local Muslim rebel groups in the southern Philippines. Filipino authorities linked the Abu Sayyaf also known as Al-Harakatul al-Islamiya, which means “bear of the sword” to the al-Qaeda terror network and the Indonesian militant group Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)
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