ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Philippine security forces are faced with the tough challenge of verifying whether a top Malaysian terror suspect reported to have been killed two years ago in a U.S.-backed airstrike in the country’s Muslim south may still be roaming the area.
Zulkifli bin Abdul Hir (alias Marwan) - a senior leader of al-Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian organization Jemaah Islamiyah - was previously understood to have been among 15 suspected militants killed in an airstrike in February 2012 in Sulu province in the southern Philippines. The reported "expert bomb maker" had first gone into hiding in the southern Philippines in 2003 with a $5 million U.S. government bounty on his head.
Last week, however, media reports citing a confidential police interrogation of Khair Mundos - a captured commander of the Abu Sayyaf, another al-Qaeda-linked group - reported that Mundos had told investigators Marwan was still alive and operating in Mindanao, the second largest and southernmost major island in the Philippines.
Zamboanga City Police Chief Angelito Casimiro was forced to admit Monday that officials had no idea if Marwan was alive or dead.
"That is still part of the validation of the intelligence community and we will await the validation of the agencies concerned on the whereabouts."
A police source who spoke with the Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to media confirmed Monday that police had deployed more intelligence agents to different villages in Western Mindanao to monitor the movements and activities of suspected militants.
The source added that more evidence against suspected Abu Sayyaf members was being gathered while other proactive responses against security threats had been taken.
Meanwhile, Zamboanga Mayor Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has called for “constant vigilance” against any threats posed by the reported resurgence of Zulkifli and the Abu Sayyaf.
"The safety and security of our residents is a very [primary] concern and I call on each and every family, let us not expose ourselves to danger... If there is any information of suspicious-looking persons in the community, please report it to the authorities."
The mayor vowed that the Abu Sayyaf and others who claimed innocent lives would be brought to justice.
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 on the failure of ransoms being paid.
www.aa.com.tr/en
