'TERRORIST, SPY.' Authorities arrest Isnirul Kirih (seated, right) on Sunday (Feb. 12, 2023) in Barangay Sinunuc, Zamboanga City. Kirih, an alleged Abu Sayyaf spy and transport provider, is the second most wanted person in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (Photo courtesy of Area Police Command-Western Mindanao)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Authorities have arrested an alleged spy and transport provider of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) with a PHP5.3 million bounty on his head in a raid in this city, a top police official reported Monday.
Col. Richard Verceles, operations chief of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao, said police officers armed with an arrest warrant collared Isnirul Kirih in his hideout Sunday in Barangay Sinunuc here.
“The primary task of the subject (Kirih) is to provide intelligence information to ASG leaders and transportation going to Zamboanga City,” Verceles said in a statement.
Verceles said Kirih has standing warrants of arrest for seven counts of murder with no recommended bail, and 25 counts of frustrated murder with PHP200,000 bail for each, issued by a court in Jolo town, the capital of Sulu province.
Kirih is the second most wanted person in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) based on the Department of National Defense-Department of the Interior and Local Government joint order.
He is described as the ASG sub-leader operating in the provinces of Basilan and Sulu under slain ASG leader Isnilon Hapilon who was based in Sumisip town, Basilan; and current ASG leader Radullan Sahiron in Patikul town, Sulu.
The arresting team recovered identification cards from the possession of Kirih bearing different fictitious names Verceles said it was Kirih who provided transportation for Hapilon to reach Marawi City during the 2017 siege.
Hapilon was killed on Oct. 16, 2017 during the battle of Marawi that started in May of the same year.
In 2018, Verceles said the suspect was also involved in a series of clashes against government forces in Patikul. (PNA)
