Sayyaf man in kidnapping of 3 teachers captured

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Military and police security forces arrested an alleged Abu Sayyaf militant tagged in the kidnapping of three teachers in a raid on a coastal village here before dawn yesterday.

Jun Jalal Akilan, alias Temeng, is allegedly a member of the Abu Sayyaf Ajijul group, and was No. 11 in the list of most wanted persons in Western Mindanao, according to Col. Andrelino Colina, chief of the anti-terror Task Force Zamboanga (TFZ).

Colina said Akilan was arrested by the combined forces of the TFZ and the city police in Barangay Talabaan at about 3 a.m. “He did not resist arrest when our forces, backed by the police units, surrounded his hideout,” he said.

The military official said the raiding team seized from the suspect a loaded caliber .45 pistol.

He said Akilan had a standing arrest warrant for the kidnapping of three public school teachers in 2009 on Sacol Island.

 The victims were held for months in Basilan before they were released following payment of ransom.