2 Abu Sayyaf suspects captured

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Two suspected Abu Sayyaf members were captured while trying to slip into the city to escape the ongoing military offensive against 60 bandits east of the city, police sources said yesterday.

The police reported that the suspects were captured aboard a passenger jeep at a checkpoint in Vitali District, 70 kilometers east of this city on Monday afternoon.

Government authorities caught the suspects in possession of an Al-Harakatul Al-Islamiyah (also known as Abu Sayyaf) card. They were residents of Lantawan, Basilan and Maimbung, Sulu.

The military did not confirm nor deny the reported arrest but sources said the two were placed under tactical interrogation to extract information about their companions in Sibulao, an interior upland village.

Police said the two could be among the suspects that beheaded three Christian villagers, whose decomposing decapitated bodies were discovered Friday.

Meanwhile, at least 42 families have already been evacuated from Sibulao and Lunday Valley, near the border of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte for fear they might be caught in a crossfire once the military catches up on the fleeing bandits.