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Abu Sayyaf bandit nabbed in Zambo manhunt op

By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.

April 1, 2023, 6:17 pm

<p><strong>CAUGHT</strong>. Suspected terrorist Salip Yusop Habibulla is arrested in Barangay Baliwasan, Zamboanga City on Friday (March 31, 2023). The suspect is believed to be a member of the Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf Group. <em>(Courtesy of Naval Forces Western Mindanao)</em></p>

CAUGHT. Suspected terrorist Salip Yusop Habibulla is arrested in Barangay Baliwasan, Zamboanga City on Friday (March 31, 2023). The suspect is believed to be a member of the Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf Group. (Courtesy of Naval Forces Western Mindanao)

ZAMBOANGA CITY – An Abu Sayyaf involved in the 2017 kidnapping of a son of a town mayor in Zamboanga del Norte was arrested on Friday, a top military official said.

Rear Admiral Donn Anthony Miraflor, Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) commander, said on Saturday Salip Yusop Habibulla was arrested in Mangal Drive, Barangay Baliwasan, this city.

Seized from Habibulla, a member of the Sulu-Based Abu Sayyaf Group, were a cellular phone and an identification card bearing the name "Murhan Alih Ismael".

Miraflor said Habibulla, 30, a resident of Barangay Pasil, Indanan, Sulu, was involved in the September 2017 kidnapping of Jelster Ed Quimbo, son of then-mayor Eddie Quimbo of Labason, Zamboanga del Norte.

Jelster Ed was released on Dec. 31, 2018, and is now the incumbent mayor of Labason town.

Miraflor said Habibulla was turned over to the custody of the local police.

He added that Habibulla’s cellular phone will be subjected to mobile forensic analysis to determine why he was hiding in Barangay Baliwasan.

Habibulla was arrested by joint operatives of NFWM, Task Force Zamboanga, Zamboanga City Police Office, and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. (PNA)

 

 

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