THREE PRO-ISIS militants, one of them involved in the kidnapping of foreigners and the beheading of a Canadian miner, surrendered to the Philippine military in the southern province of Tawi-Tawi, security said Saturday.
Officials said the trio – who surrendered separately – yielded weapons and are being debriefed by soldiers before they are handed over to the custody of the local government.
This was also confirmed by army Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, who identified the terrorists as Alsadi Hanain, Bennaser Pae and Ugali Alimudin.
He said Hanain surrendered to the 2nd Marine Brigade in the capital town of Bongao and is being linked to the September 21, 2015 kidnapping of John Ridsdel, Chief Operating Officer of TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc., and another Canadian businessman Robert Hall and the resort’s Norwegian manager Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipina Maritess Flor.
Ridsdel was eventually beheaded on April 25, 2016 after his family failed to payP300 million ransom demanded by the Abu Sayyaf. The other three hostages were freed unharmed.
Hanain was also involved in the ransom kidnappings of Italian national Rolando del Torchio on October 7, 2014; European birdwatcher Ewold Horn who was killed in May 2019 during a firefight between militants and soldiers; and Chinese Jin Hua Chen and Yahong Chen.
Vinluan said Hanain, who was under terror leader Hajan Sawadjaan, was also involved in deadly attacks on security forces in the provinces of Basilan and Sulu. He said Pae and Alimudin also yielded to the Philippine Marines.
“The windfall of surrender demonstrates success in our efforts to end terrorism and lawlessness. We hope that more terror group members will decide to surrender and join us in achieving peace without killing each other,” Vinluan said.
Tens of dozens of Abu Sayyaf militants surrendered in the South in the past years to avail of the government’s peace program in exchange for financial assistance and livelihood aid. But many of these terrorists opted to surrender and availed of the program to escape criminal liability.
Since 1995, hundreds and perhaps thousands of Abu Sayyaf fighters and New People’s Army and Moro rebels surrendered to the government through various programs - from Up, Up (United for Peace, United for Progress) Mindanao and Balik-Baril Program and the Comprehensive Local Integration Program now called Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program, and other similar undertakings to lure rebels and terrorists to surrender peacefully.
But the majority of those who yielded cannot be accounted for now by the government and many of them had reportedly rejoined their groups after spending government money and back in their old ways again. (Mindanao Examiner)
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