The alert level has been raised all over the city following a military report that the leader of the October 2002 bombing that killed at least nine persons here has been spotted in the east coast last week. Southern Command chief Lieutenant General Roy Kyamko said Amilhamja Ajilul, a ranking Abu Sayyaf commander, was seen in Curuan District in the company of several other Abu Sayyaf leaders including commanders Tutulungan and Burhan Mundos. Mundos was identified as responsible in the Fitmart explosion in General Santos City also in October 2002. Kyamko said Ajilul and the two other bandit leaders were seen with about 50 fully armed followers. "They were planning to stage highway robbery and hold-up commuters passing the Zamboanga City-Vitali route," Kyamko said, citing intelligence reports.
| Oh, cheeze. A guy with a turban and an AK, standing out in the middle of the highway, hollering "stand and deliver!" at a bus... |
He said the military has deployed a contingent to run after the suspects.
| "Here, you men! Halt in the name of the law!" |
Superintendent Mario Yanga, city police director, said they also deployed additional forces to thwart any attempts by the Abu Sayyaf to sow violence in the city. "All major and vital installations are properly secured, we even dispatched several forces inside and outside shopping centers," Yanga said. Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat said the raising of the alert level should not alarm visitors to the city. She said that with the presence of security forces, trouble makers were probably already thinking twice before launching terroristic acts. "Their (security forces’) presence will send signals to terrorists and trouble-makers that we are on alert, and I don’t think the presence of soldiers will dampen the Christmas spirit," Lobregat said. |