The Philippine navy said yesterday said an attack on a Malaysian tugboat on Sunday in Sulu sea near Sabah was the work of Abu Sayyaf militants. The attackers seized three crew members - an Indonesian and two Malaysians. "We are receiving reports from the field that the group who abducted the three were Abu Sayyaf members and the alleged leader is a certain Lajib," said Captain Geronimo Malabanan, a Philippine navy spokesman. A senior Philippine security official said the abduction showed Abu Sayyaf remained an important threat even if most of its leaders had been killed or captured, and its membership had declined from 5,000 in 2000 to about 400 today following a series of military offensives against the group.
| Damn. The last I heard it, Abu Sayyaf at its peak was only about 1,500 guys, most of them hired muscle. Guess the rest folded back into MILF. |
Mr Gonzales said intelligence authorities believe the Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani, brother of the group's founder, is consolidating control in an attempt to steer back the organisation towards its original objective of fighting for an Islamic state in the southern Philippines. |