2 Abu Sayyaf Group sub leaders arrested in Sabah —military

Two sub-leaders of Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and six of their alleged followers were arrested in Sabah over the weekend, Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) said in its report issued on Monday.

WestMinCom chief Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan Jr. said Joint Task Force Sulu arrested ASG sub-leaders Sansibar Bensio and Mabar Binda during a police operation in Jalan Taman Sri Arjuna, Beaufort at 3 a.m.

Also nabbed were suspected ASG members and accomplices Muayyar Binda, Lugah Sanchez, Bonijar Samsula, Alim Sukarno, and two individuals going by the aliases Sansis and Firdaus.

The arrest, carried out with the help of intensified intelligence operations and community support, is "a big blow to the ASG," Vinluan said. 

Meanwhile, Major General Wiliam Gonzales, chief of JTF Sulu, said the apprehended suspects are also known members of kidnap for ransom groups operating in the second district of Sulu.

“They are involved in the series of armed confrontations with the military including the encounter on July 2011 at Sitio Tubig Magtuh, Barangay Panglayahan, Patikul, Sulu wherein the late 2nd Lt. Michael Baladad of the Philippine Marines was beheaded,” said Gonzales in the same statement.

Also, the military reported that Bensio was involved in kidnapping of foreign nationals and Filipinos. — Consuelo Marquez/BM, GMA News