Suspected bomber arrested in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Marines and naval intelligence agents raided a suspected bombers’ hideout in Sulu last Monday, arresting one man and seizing about 20 homemade explosive devices, the Navy said.

The man, Aldzhezar Salapuddin Jila, was being interrogated following his arrest in Barangay Litayon in the capital town of Jolo, said Navy spokesman Capt. Geronimo Malabanan.

Authorities confiscated improvised bombs, high-grade explosives, including trinitrotoluene, and electronic gadgets, said Brig. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, overall Sulu commander and head of Task Force Comet.

Habacon said Jila is believed to be part of a terrorist group behind the bombings in Sulu and Zamboanga City.

Sulu has been the scene of several recent bomb attacks.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Jila was suspected of belonging to the Abu Sayyaf, a small but violent al-Qaeda-linked Muslim extremist group that is active in Sulu.

Muslim separatists in the country’s south have long been fighting to establish a separate Islamic state. — Roel Pareño