Abu Sayyaf sub-leader in Sulu shot dead by nephew

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MANILA — An Abu Sayyaf terrorist sub-leader was gunned down in cold-blood by his own nephew while the victim was taking a bath in a creek in Sulu, which the military said was instigated by jealousy, intrigue and the sharing of ransom money collected by the terror group.

A military report identified the slain terrorist sub-leader as Khalid Sali, trusted aide of Radullan Sahiron, overall leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sulu and Basilan.

Sali’s killer was identified as Yasser Sahiron, his nephew.

The report said Sali was taking a bath together with four bodyguards in a creek in Barangay Bud Bunga, Talipao, Sulu, last Sunday when another ASG unit led by Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan arrived and brainwashed Khalid’s nephew, Yasser Sahiron, telling the latter that Khalid was allegedly a military informant.

This angered Yasser, who proceeded immediately to the creek where Sali was taking a bath and without saying a word opened fire, killing his helpless uncle and wounding his four bodyguards.

Intelligence reports said that animosity had set in between the group of Sawadjaan and Sali, with the latter being suspected as a military informer.

Sawadjaan suspected that Khalid was giving the military information on the location of his group because they were always the target of attacks by government security forces wherever they hid while Khalid was safe at Radullan’s hideout.

Following a series of encounters with Army troopers from Feb. 25 to 27, there were reports that the group of Sawadjaan planned to move towards Indanan for safety.

The military report said that another allegation that led to the killing of the Abu Sayyaf sub-leader was that Khalid had become more arrogant toward his fellow sub-leaders because of his close ties with Radullan and even outshone some of his senior sub-leaders in the group, particularly in handling kidnapped victims’ ransom money.

It was likely that misunderstanding had erupted between the group of Radullan and Sawadjaan due to these series of incidents, the military said.