4 suspected Abu Sayyaf nabbed in Zamboanga City

MANILA, Philippines — Authorities have arrested in Zamboanga City four suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf, two of them the terrorist group’s link to the Islamic State.

But Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan, the Philippine National Police chief, said the suspects could not be indicted under the Antiterrorism Act of 2020 because the law’s implementation rules had yet to be drafted. As a result, they would be charged for crimes under the Revised Penal Code.

In a press briefing at Camp Crame on Monday, Cascolan said police and military teams arrested the suspects on Friday and Sunday in Zamboanga City. They were identified as Kadija Sadji, 31; Abdulman Sarapuddin Tula also known as “Mahn,” 32; Jailani Al-Rafee Sakandal, 31; and Hassan Anang Mohammad, alias Usi.

Except for Mohammad, the rest were arrested by police on Friday in Barangay Lower Calarian, Zamboanga City.

Sadji is a daughter-in-law of Abu Sayyaf founder Abdurajak Janjalani, while Tula is in charge of logistics and providing provisions to terrorist leaders Mundi Sawadjaan and Radullan Sahiron. Sakandal, on the other hand, is an apprentice seaman in the Philippine Coast Guard.

Cascolan said Sadji and Tula acted as financial conduits of the Islamic State to the Abu Sayyaf faction under Sawadjaan, while Sakandal’s role in the group had yet to be determined.