By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Philippine security forces have seized several boats and explosive devices believed to belong to the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern island province of Basilan, the military said Wednesday.
Capt. Benjune Cerbo, Western Mindanao Command spokesman, said in a statement that troops had been scouring an area in Tuburan village, Mohammad Ajul town, when they found 13 boats and several homemade bombs.
"The watercrafts were utilized by the Abu Sayyaf group in distributing improvised explosive devices in Basilan and Zamboanga Peninsula," he said.
Cerbo said Marines Special Operations and Naval Special Operations units came across the cache after encountering a group led by Malaysian militant Mohammad Najib bin Hausein.
He added that the recovery came after troops discovered several IED components, a firearm and rounds of ammunition Sunday at an encounter site in Tuburan.
"The seizures were made possible through the intensified conduct of law enforcement operations of the military and police in the province of Basilan," Cerbo said.
Last week, a soldier and three Abu Sayyaf members were killed after a raid on an encampment where the group made bombs in the same village.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.
It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.
