Brig. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, anti-terror Task Force Comet chief, said the Abu Sayyaf may have evolved as a terrorist group, but it has not abandoned its kidnapping activities.
"All the while we were saying that the Abu Sayyaf is a terrorist group but just operating the kidnapping," he said.
Habacon said the metamorphosis of the Abu Sayyaf into a terrorist group came even when it was still kidnapping foreigners and Filipinos in Sulu and attacking communities to divert the military’s attention.
"Even before the JI has sent instructors on bombings (to) transfer the technology to the Abu Sayyaf group," he said.
Habacon said military intelligence has been alerted on the Abu Sayyaf’s terrorist activities after the discovery of a new terrorist cell called "urban terrorist group," tasked to stage bombing attacks.
The discovery of the UTG came following the arrest of an Abu Sayyaf member last May 29 and the recovery of a huge cache of improvised bombs, high grade explosives, electronic gadgets, and remote control devices, he added.
Habacon said the military has also unearthed the group’s plot to bomb a commercial ferry plying the Sulu, Zamboanga and Davao routes.
The UTG was re-enforced by the training extended by the JI elements who visited the island province of Sulu, he added.
Habacon said even before the Abu Sayyaf shifted to terror attacks, the JI had been training its members and some of them had traversed from Sulu into the mainland, particularly Central Mindanao, to seek training with the JI.
In a previous bombing attack in Jolo, where two of the military’s Explosive Ordnance and Disposal (EOD) unit members died, the explosive was apparently triggered by remote control, he added.
Habacon said the UTG has cells operating separately in Sulu, Basilan, Central Mindanao, and Metro Manila.
"May kanya-kanyang bombing groups sila which they called the UTG," he said.
Based on intelligence reports, the group who staged the Super Ferry 14 bombing came from the Central Mindanao Abu Sayyaf band, he added. — Roel Pareño