11 Sulu men who aided Jemaah Islamiyah cell charged

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines  – The military has filed frustrated murder and other charges against 11 armed men who helped a local cell of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group during a raid on Laminusa Island in Sulu.

Brig. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, chief of the anti-terror Task Force Comet, said the 11 suspects, including a barangay chairman, were arrested following last Sunday’s operation against the Abu Sayyaf faction of Abu Bin Hir, alias Boy Tondo.

Guerrero said the Judge Advocate General’s Office of the Western Mindanao Command filed charges of frustrated murder, illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives, and violation of the election gun ban before the Sulu provincial prosecutor’s office.

Guerrero said the suspects were arrested following the pre-dawn operation to capture Abu Bin Hir, a local JI cell leader who is reportedly coddling Malaysian-born JI bomber Zulkipli Bin Hir, alias Marwan.

The suspects were reportedly among those who fired first at the approaching Marines during the raid, which left at least seven of their cohorts and two female villagers dead and a soldier wounded.       – Roel Pareño