Police Capture Top Terrorist From Abu Sayyaf in Jungles of Southern Philippines

Police in the Philippines said today that one of the most wanted members of the terror organization Abu Sayyaf was arrested on September 14 in the jungles of Basilan Island in the southern Philippines. Abu Sayyaf ("father of the sword") was founded in mid-1980s to propagate Islam through jihad.

The terrorist was identified as Angging Yunos (aka Abu Yunos). He was wanted by police for a series of kidnappings, serious illegal detention and multiple murder cases. Yunos was reportedly involved in the attack and burning of Ipil town in Zamboanga del Sur in April 1995 that left 52 people killed and hundreds of buildings burned. He was also allegedly involved in kidnapping of 20 people from the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan in 2001. Regional police intelligence said Yunos also participated in the abduction of 15 workers of the Golden Harvest Plantation in 2001.

The Philippine military has also been hunting down Abu Sayyaf top leader Khaddafy Janjalani, who is hiding on the island of Sulu with 200 fully armed Abu Sayyaf men and two members of the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamihya who are linked with the 2002 Bali bombing in which 202 people were killed.

Police also arrested two Muslim separatist rebels suspected of involvement in a car bombing three months ago that targeted a powerful politician and killed seven people. The two suspects were arrested late Friday while recuperating in a hospital after a bomb they were allegedly rigging detonated accidentally. One lost a leg and another was wounded by shrapnel in the blast.