Published January 22, 2021 8:54am A former Abu Sayyaf member allegedly involved in illegal drugs was killed during an combined police-military operation on Thursday in Sapa, Tawi-Tawi, the military said Friday. The Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) identified the suspect as Riyadzkan Tamyang Maulana. The operation was conducted by troops from the Marine Battalion Landing Team and Sapa-Sapa Municipal Police Station in Barangay Poblacion. “Based on the report from the ground, Maulana was a former member of the ASG/KFRG (kidnap-for-ransom-group) under Salip Murah Asgali and Majan Sahijuan, also known as Apo Mike. He already surrendered to Sapa-Sapa MPS last February 20, 2019, but continued with his illegal drug trade,” WestMinCom chief Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan Jr. said.
[Handout/Robinson Niñal/Presidential Photo/PCOO]
The Catholic Church’s highest official in the southern Philippines on Friday endorsed a term extension for ex-separatist leader Murad Ebrahim as head of an autonomous Muslim region.
Murad, who leads the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority (BTA), told BenarNews last month that he was lobbying to have his term extended beyond its scheduled expiry in 2022. He said he needed more time to pursue reforms hampered by the coronavirus pandemic and threats from militants linked to Islamic State.
“Elections in 2022 would simply erode whatever fragile gains the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority shall have obtained within the transition period,” Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, the archbishop emeritus of Cotabato, said in a statement.