Abu Sayyaf leader slips out from AFP offensive in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY — One of the top leaders of the Abu Sayyaf allegedly returned to Basilan after slipping out of Sulu where the military has intensified operations against the extremist group’s chieftain, a local official reported yesterday.

Mayor Joel Maturan of Ungkayapukan, Basilan, told a local ABS-CBN television crew that residents in his town’s mountain village reported that they spotted Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon in the area.

Maturan said that according to the villagers, Hapilon is accompanied by several men with high-powered weapons, including a 90RR recoilless rifle and a 30-caliber machinegun.

The mayor warned that the return of the Abu Sayyaf to Basilan will signal renewed fighting in the area if the bandits take advantage of the reduced force of the Basilan-based Army 103rd Infantry Brigade (IB).

The 103rd IB’s four battalions have been reduced to only one regular battalion and a company of members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU).

Hapilon’s alleged escape from the military offensive in Patikul, Sulu, was reported even before the visit here last Monday of six foreign envoys led by Ambassador Kristie Kenney of the US, Peter Sutherland of Canada, Peter Beckingham of the United Kingdom, Tony Hely of Australia, David Pine New of Zealand, and Ryuichiro Yamazaki of Japan, who were given a briefing on the ongoing military operations against the Muslim extremists in Sulu.

The ambassadors have endorsed the military operations against the group of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, who is protecting Indonesian terrorists Dulmatin and Umar Patek, bomb experts of the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah and wanted for the October 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Hapilon, Janjalani and another Abu Sayyaf leader, Jainal Antel Sali Jr. alias Abu Solaiman, are wanted by the US government for the kidnapping and murder of American citizens in Mindanao.

The US military, which has been helping Filipino troops by providing intelligence information to field units tracking the terrorist group in Sulu, had offered a $10-million reward for the capture of Dulmatin and $1 million each for the capture of Patek and Janjalani.

Military operations dubbed as Oplan Ultimatum were launched last Aug. 1 to track down Janjalani and the Indonesian terrorists in Patikul, Sulu.

Pursuing troops captured Dulmatin’s wife Istiada B.T. Oemar Sovie alias Amenah Tohe, together with her sons Edar, 6, and Alih, 8, last Oct. 3 in Patikul, Sulu.

Maj. Eugene Batara, spokesman for the Wesmincom, said the military cannot discount the possibility that Hapilon has slipped out of Sulu and returned to the Abu Sayyaf stronghold in Basilan.

Batara said the military is verifying reports even as members of the Army’s 2nd Special Forces Battalion were deployed to Basilan.