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ZAMBOANGA
CITY—The
al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf bandits have resorted to
petty crimes to boost the group’s resources.
Lt. Gen.
Nelson Allaga, Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom)
chief, said foreign support for the bandits has stopped
after the death of Khadafy Janjalani, the group’s emir
or paramount leader.
Allaga
was alluding to the Jema’ah Islamiyah, which is tagged
as the al-Qaeda’s terror cell in Asia, as the source of
outside support of the Abu Sayyaf.
Janjalani was killed in a clash with Marines on
September 4, 2006, in barangay Tugas, Patikul, Sulu.
Since
Janjalani’s death, Allaga said, the Abu Sayyaf remained
without an emir, and so-called sub- and midlevel
commanders have been running the loosely organized
group.
He said
the bandits have turned to extortion, robbery and other
forms of criminal activities to raise funds for the
group.
Recently, an Abu Sayyaf band waylaid some vehicles on
the road leading to Jolo, the capital of Sulu, and
robbed the passengers of cash and valuables.
The Abu
Sayyaf’s latest victims were four gasoline traders whom
they waylaid on April 9 in barangay Kapok Punggol,
Maimbung, Sulu.
The
victims were freed after their relatives paid an
unspecified amount to the bandit group led by Abdul
Dahim and Gafur Jumdail, a relative of Gumbahali Jumdail
alias Dr. Abu Pula, a senior Abu Sayyaf commander.
Allaga
disclosed that the military offensive against the
bandits continues to neutralize the remnants of the
bandit group.
More
Marines have been sent to Sulu to track down the bandits
while Army troops have been sent to Basilan province,
where some of the bandits fled to escape the military
campaign in Sulu.
Policemen have been alerted against the criminal
activities of the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.
More
policemen have been deployed in commercial areas and
town centers to prevent the bandits from conducting
extortion in business centers. |
