Suspected MILF operative arrested, PHL Army reports

Security forces on Tuesday arrested a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a secessionist group linked to the Southeast Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah in Central Mindanao, a top military official reported. The suspect, identified as Abi Pamanay, alias Abi Silongan and Abe, is a member of the MILF’s 105th Command, said Army chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz. He was nabbed by joint forces of the Army’s 104th Brigade and 46th Infantry Battalion and intelligence personnel at 2:45 p.m. in Kalawag 3 village, Isulan town, Sultan Kudarat, the Army chief said. Pamanay is allegedly a “senior associate" of Abdulbasit Usman, an MILF bomber who has links to the Abu Sayyaf and the JI, said Ortiz, adding that the suspect is supposedly a member of the Special Operations Group of the MILF’s 105th Base Command. “Subject is a local contact of the Jemaah Islamiyah that operates in Southern Mindanao," said Ortiz, citing initial field reports. The MILF and the Abu Sayyaf have ties with the JI, which has funded a number of terrorist attacks in the Philippines, according to intelligence officials. The JI has about 30 to 40 operatives in the country, some of them were involved in the 2002 Bali bombings, according to military estimates. Pamanay was arrested based on arrest warrants for murder and frustrated murder issued by a Kidapawan City court, said Maj. Marlowe Patria, spokesman of the Army's 6th Infantry Division. "The said person is now in the custody of the arresting forces for debriefing," Patria added. — VS, GMA News