Abu henchman nabbed in Basilan

COTABATO CITY – Authorities yesterday arrested a senior henchman of Abu Sayyaf leader Furudji Indama in Maluso, Basilan.

Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares of the Regional Police Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said agents cornered Andaang Mataun San, 47, in the town proper of Maluso after a month-long surveillance.

In a report to Mijares, the Basilan provincial police said San turned himself in when he was shown an arrest warrant for murder issued by Judge Leojay Principe of the Regional Trial Court in Basilan.

The operation that resulted in the arrest of San was jointly carried out by combined personnel of the Maluso municipal police, Basilan provincial police office, Military Intelligence Group 9 and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Mijares thanked officials of Maluso for helping the police locate San, a resident of Barangay Upper Mahayahay.

San is one of the key henchmen of Indama, the leader of a big Abu Sayyaf group in Basilan.

Tausug and Yakan community elders confirmed that San started as a follower of an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader named Junaiver under Isnilon Hapilon, who was killed by pursuing soldiers in Marawi City in October last year.

San bolted Hapilon’s group in 2015 and joined the Abu Sayyaf faction led by Indama.