BASILAN - Two Abu Sayyaf terrorists surrendered to members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front who handed the duo to security forces in the Muslim province of Basilan, officials said Monday.
 |
| Photos released by the military's Western Mindanao Command to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner show the two Abu Sayyaf terrorists who surrendered Sunday, October 18, 2021 to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Basilan province. |
Officials said Jaid Balatong, 40; and Abdul Munib, 35; surrendered to the MILF’s 114th Base Command under Dan Asnawi and they also yielded an automatic rifle and pistol.
The weekend surrender
was confirmed by Army Maj. Gen. Alfred Rosario Jr, chief of the Western
Mindanao Command, who quoted a report submitted by Army Brig. Gen. Domingo
Gobway, commander of the Joint Task Force Basilan.
“Commander Dan
Asnawi, of the MILF’s 114th Base Command, together with Commander Rajan
Abdurahman, the deputy commander; Commander Maaruf, Commander of MILF Bakisong;
and Hadji Samad of the CCCH-Basilan, in coordination with the 68th Infantry
Battalion, facilitated the surrender of the duo,” Gobway said.
He said the good relationship between the military
and the MILF in the area led to the surrender of Balatong and Munib. “The Moro
Islamic Liberation Front is actively supporting the military’s campaign against
terrorism by convincing the remaining members of the terror groups to surrender,”
he said.
Rosario praised the MILF for its unwavering
support to the military’s peace campaign and said: “I am personally elated with
the commitment of the MILF to support us in our quest for lasting peace and
sustainable development here in Mindanao.”
He also urged other members of
the Abu Sayyaf to return to the fold of the law. “It
is time to end your armed struggle and transform Basilan into a peaceful and
progressive province,” Rosario said.
Officials did not say whether Balatong and Munib were involved in deadly attacks in Basilan, one of five provinces under the Bangsamoro autonomous region. The Abu Sayyaf or Al-harakatul Al-Islamiyyah which means “Bearer of the Sword” was originally founded in Basilan by Libyan firebrand Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, who was killed in a gunfight with a lone policemen in 1998 in the capital city of Isabela. (Mindanao Examiner)
No comments:
Post a Comment