Abu Sayyaf leader arrested in Zamboanga

(Photo from Google Maps)

Mhadie Umangkat Sahirin, an Abu Sayyaf leader operating in Basilan has been arrested in Zamboanga on Friday afternoon.

Umangkat was arrested in Barangay Tugbungan in Zamboanga City after being served of a warrant by a Basilan court. He was indicted of murder charges.

“He is a leader of lawless elements based in Sapah Bulak, Sumisip, Basilan, with the strength of more or less 20 followers. He was formerly under Furuji Indama,” Philippine Navy Cdr. Vincent Roy Trinidad, chief of staff of the Naval Forces in Western Mindanao was quoted as saying in an Inquirer.net report

Umangkat led a group of gunmen who perpetrated multiple crimes against government forces, Trinidad said in the same report. His group allegedly ambushed government forces deployed to secure the construction of the Basilan Circumferential Road. Umangkat and his group were also alleged to have burned construction equipments owned by the local government.