ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Philippines security forces say they are holding an Abu Sayyaf bomb-making expert following a raid on a hideout in the country's Muslim south.
Captain Maria Rowena Muyuela said that Abu Jomar -- "a member of the Abu Sayyaf group and an improvised explosive expert" -- was arrested late Saturday during a joint police and army raid, and a cellular phone, electrical wiring, tape and blasting caps were also recovered.
She said the arrest took place after intensive monitoring of the area on the west coast of Zamboanga, and Jomar is now in the custody of local police.
Zamboanga is a majority Christian city in the southern Philippines's predominantly Muslim Mindanao region.
"Government forces are intensifying law enforcement operations in order to eliminate criminal activities through expeditious arrest of remaining leaders and members of the Abu Sayyaf group and other lawless elements," she added.
The Abu Sayyaf is an Islamic separatist group based in the Southern Philippines. It is vying for an independent Muslim homeland in the Bangsamoro region.
The group has carried out high-profile assassinations and large-scale bombings in the hope of achieving its goal, in the process developing a reputation as one of the most violent Islamic separatist groups in the Philippines.
It is on a U.S. list of terrorist organizations, has been linked to al-Qaida, and is notorious for bombings, extortion, kidnappings and beheadings.
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