4 Sayyaf militants yield in Basilan province

From the Mindanao Examiner (May 28): 4 Sayyaf militants yield in Basilan province

Four alleged Abu Sayyaf militants surrendered to the military in Basilan, one of 5 provinces in the Muslim autonomous region in southern Philippines, officials announced on Sunday.

Officials said the four – Usman Mussa, Balie Kasaran, Sadar Kasaran and Sarwin Kasaran – also yielded two M16 automatic rifles and an M1 rifle when they surrendered over the weekend to the 18th Infantry Battalion in Al-Barka town.

They were reportedly followers of Abu Sayyaf leader Nurhassan Jamiri, according to Captain Jo-ann Petinglay, a military spokeswoman. She said just recently, three militants also surrendered to a military task force in Tawi-Tawi, also in the autonomous region. And handed over two automatic rifles to Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi.

The trio – Angki Haradja, Nickson Jalil, and Asil Sainuddin – were followers of slain Abu Sayyaf leader Aljine Mundok, alias Ninok Sappari. The militants were involved in the 2015 killing of Nixon Tarsum, brother of Vice Mayor Adjuwanda Tarsum, of Patikul town in Sulu province.

Petinglay said a total of 64 militants had surrendered to the military in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi since January this year, but most of them were also released by the Western Mindanao Command because no warrants had been released by the courts against them despite their involvement in heinous crimes.

http://mindanaoexaminer.com/4-sayyaf-militants-yield-in-basilan-province/