KOTA KINABALU – Seven members of the Abu Sayyaf terror group who were arrested in Sandakan recently will be charged here before being extradited to the Philippines.
Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali said Malaysian security authorities are in discussion with their counterparts in the Philippines on the matter.
“The suspects are facing immigration charges here in Sabah. We also believe that the seven may still have accomplices in the state,” he said today.
The suspects were arrested on August 18 at Timbang Island in Sandakan.
They are believed to have been planning to abduct an unnamed oil palm plantation owner in the east coast district, as well as other wealthy estate owners, for ransom.
Eleven individuals allegedly linked to the militant group were arrested.
Two suspects were shot dead by security personnel in a predawn shoot-out near Pulau Timbang.
The authorities in the Philippines have confirmed that seven of the 11 individuals are Abu Sayyaf members.
Hazani said police believe that the suspects are also linked to another group of suspected Abu Sayyaf operatives who were arrested in Beaufort in May this year.
Some 37 individuals were arrested in a mangrove site next to a residential area in Beaufort. They included eight women and 21 children.
A check on the individuals found that all the eight adult men in the Beaufort group are members of the Abu Sayyaf, with two of them on the Philippines wanted list.
On the same note, Hazani today advised estate owners to be on the alert and to take precautions with foreigners they hire to work in their plantations.
Based in southern Philippines, the Abu Sayyaf network has for years been undertaking various terrorist and criminal activities, including abductions, beheadings and extortion, around islands such as Mindanao, Basilan, Jolo and Tawi-Tawi. – The Vibes, August 25, 2021
