14 Sayyaf militants fall in Basilan

Fourteen members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group were nabbed Saturday on the island-province of Basilan, a stronghold of the group notorious for kidnapping and other terrorist activities. In an interview on dzBB radio Sunday, Armed Forces public information head Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said a task force deployed to secure the May 10 polls led the operations in Sumisip town that resulted in the arrest of the 14 Abu Sayyaf men. Burgos added that the militants were led by a certain Umar, who has a standing arrest warrant against him. In March, the military estimated the number of active Abu Sayyaf members at 400. Basilan province is part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which has been placed under the Commission on Elections' control due to “serious armed threats" and the “presence of paramilitary forces, private armies or identifiable armed bands widely perceived to have committed terrorism, fraud or other election irregularities." —Sophia Dedace/VS, GMANews.TV