By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Philippine government forces have shot dead a member of an al-Qaeda-linked group who was suspected of kidnapping two Malaysians last week, military officials said Thursday.
Capt. Benjune Cerbo, Western Mindanao Command spokesman, said in a statement that Mindas Manda -- also known as Muktader Marwan – was killed in an encounter Wednesday afternoon in Jolo, the capital of southern Sulu province.
Military and police officers had conducted a raid on Manda's safe house at around 2.50 p.m. (0750GMT) when the Abu Sayyaf member managed to escape to a nearby street before the security forces caught up with him.
"He refused to surrender to the troops, instead engaged them in a firefight," Cerbo said.
An M16 rifle with ammunition was recovered from the suspect's possession.
In a text message, Joint Task Group Sulu commander Colonel Allan Arrojado said Manda’s body was brought to the Jolo Municipal Police Station.
"This death of Manda was a result of intelligence-exchange between military and police based in Sulu," Arrojado said. "We received information on the whereabouts of the suspect from intelligence unit and we had given the information to the police."
Manda, a member of the Abu Sayyaf based in Tawi-Tawi province, was allegedly involved in a series of kidnappings in Malaysia.
He and his brother, Kadafy, are accused of leading the group that abducted a restaurant manager and her husband in the easternmost state of Sabah May 14.
Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, and Bernard Then Ted Fen, 39, are reportedly being held in Jolo – an Abu Sayyaf stronghold around 322 kilometers from Sabah – and an unspecified large ransom has been demanded from their families.
The brothers are also believed to have been involved in the abduction of Chinese tourist Gao Huayun and Filipina resort worker Marcy Dayawan from a dive resort in Semporna, on Sabah’s east coast, in April last year.
Since 1991, the group -- 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 after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.
