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| Southeast Asia |
| Abu Sayyaf leader killed |
| 2006-04-12 |
| A suspected Abu Sayyaf leader, who landed on Washington's list of terrorists for bombings that included an attack that killed an American serviceman in 2002, and his father were killed during a shootout with authorities in Curuan district here early yesterday morning. Colonel Edgardo Gidaya, commander of the antiterror Task Force Zamboanga, identified the slain suspect as Amilhamja Ajijul, alias Alex Alvarez. The father was identified as Andalul Ajijul. Gidaya said the elder Ajijul was killed when Alvarez's group exchanged shots with authorities at around 3 a.m. in the sub-village of Dulian in the village of Calabasa. Alvarez was critically wounded in the 30-minute gunfight and died while being treated at a hospital. The United States had put a bounty of $20,000 on his head and, according to Senior Superintendent Angelito Casimiro of the Western Mindanao police, another P350,000 under the interior department's reward program. Alvarez and his men were also wanted for crimes other than the bombings like kidnapping and murder. Four of Alvarez's companions were arrested. They were identified as Asirin Asmani Aslon, Sherhan Aslon, Sawang Aslon and Sambri Kamlon Andon. They were brought to the military's Southern Command headquarters for interrogation. Gidaya said government security forces also recovered two .45-cal. pistols, cellular phones, jungle bolos and documents from the Abu Sayyaf safehouse. "Finally we neutralized the leader of this urban terrorist group of the Abu Sayyaf and we have preempted a much wider scale of terrorist attack in the peninsula," he told the Inquirer. Gidaya said the death of Alvarez and the "neutralization" of his group was an effort by "homegrown experts." "No foreign troops were involved. Our units painstakingly built up information for almost four years," he said. Gidaya said Alvarez was wanted for two bomb attacks at the Shoppers' shopping malls here on Oct. 17, 2002, that claimed several lives, another bombing at the Fort Pilar Shrine three days later, as well as the 2000 kidnapping of 53 students and teachers at a Roman Catholic school on nearby Basilan island. Alvarez's group was also believed to be responsible for the bombing of a café near the gates of the military's Camp Arturo Enrile in the village of Malagutay which killed five persons, including Sergeant Mark Johnson, an American soldier. Forty others, including another US serviceman, were wounded in that attack. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Correction- Sergeant First Class Mark Jackson. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-04-12 10:44 |