7 of Robot’s men captured in Sulu

Seven suspected henchmen of Abu Sayyaf leaders Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot, and Radullan Sahiron were captured by the military in Indanan, Sulu over the weekend, the military reported yesterday.

Reports reaching Camp Aguinaldo said the seven Abu Sayyaf members were in a jeep when they were intercepted at an Army checkpoint at around 12:30 p.m. last Saturday at the boundary of Barangays Buansa and Kalahatian in Indanan.

The military identified the suspected bandits as Gahih Alih, Santula Apha, Dagdal Murtan, Zarolan Sabadan, Asiri Alin, Julie Alliul and Juhano Sahamon.

The military said the bandits did not resist arrest when members of the 23rd Scout Rangers spotted them inside the jeep that was bound for Barangay Buansa.

The military claimed they bandits were in town to get supplies for their comrades who are fleeing a military dragnet and are still holding one Indonesian hostage.

The military has been rounding up members of the Abu Sayyaf, whose ranks have been decimated after a six-month counter-terrorism operation.

US forces ended their mission last week, but several US Special Forces remain on nearby Basilan island to guard facilities and infrastructure work left behind by the group.

Philippine and US officials say the counter-terrorism operations will resume in October and would likely shift to the island of Sulu, another stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf.

Both Manila and Washington say the Abu Sayyaf, a small group of self-styled Islamic militants, was linked to the the al-Qaeda network of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US that left at least 3,500 dead.

The Abu Sayyaf last year kidnapped three Americans and 17 Filipinos from a beach resort and later moved them to Basilan’s jungles. Most of the Filipinos were freed in exchange for ransom or were killed. One hostage from California, Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded.

The last US hostage, Kansas missionary Gracia Burnham was recovered in a bloody rescue last month in which her husband, Martin Burnham and Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap, were killed. – With AFP