4 Sayyaf men fall in Zambo raids

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines   â€“ Four suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group, including a suspect in the kidnapping and beheading of six members of a religious group, were arrested in separate police and military operations here on Sunday.

Three of the suspects – Jerry Intimani alias Jumong, Gabir Masturan and Samara Akbaw – were arrested in Barangay Maasin at around 9 p.m., said Superintendent Luisito Magnaye, area chief of Western Mindanao Command-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit.

The other one, identified as Sattar Abdulla, was captured in Barangay Tumalutab at dawn.

Abdulla, said to be a member of a group led by the late Abu Sayyaf leader Nadzmi Saabtullah alias Commander Global, was tagged in the kidnapping and killing of the six members of Jehovah’s Witness in Patikul, Sulu in 2002.

Magnaye said Intimani, Masturan and Akbaw initially eluded government forces implementing the “Oplan Pagla-lansag Omega” at about 6:30 p.m.

“The three suspects were arrested in a follow-up operation at their safehouse in Barangay Maasin,” he said.

The arresting team recovered two caliber .45 pistols, a hand grenade and a jungkong, a watercraft patterned after a Malaysian speedboat, from the safehouse of the three suspects.

Magnaye said one of the suspects admitted they used the jungkong in going to Malaysia.

“We are verifying if the vessel was used by the Abu Sayyaf in the previous kidnapping cases in Sabah,” he said.

The vessel was turned over to the police Special Action Force’s seaborne unit for proper disposition.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Angelito Casimiro said they also recovered a sketch detailing the suspects’ plan to kidnap a son of a shipyard owner and a businessman near the area.

Casimiro said the group initially planned to carry out the kidnapping in downtown in this city, but the presence of security forces prompted them to divert the plan to the coast.

He said the suspects were based in Sulu and used the city as their transient point where they reportedly hire and pay spotters for their target victims.

Meanwhile, Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar lauded the police and the military for the arrest of suspects as she called on the residents to continue their vigilance and help authorities in preventing the activities of criminals and terrorists.

 â€œThe swift actions of the police and military prevented and protected the people from the criminal acts of this Abu Sayyaf bandits,” Salazar said.