Abu Sayyaf Among Philippine Prison Escapees

A member of an al-Qaeda-linked militant group and seven other inmates have escaped from a prison in the southern Philippines island province of Basilan – a known Abu Sayyaf stronghold.



Abdulhusin Atalad, warden at the provincial jail in Isabela City, told The Anadolu Agency that the eight prisoners escaped at around 3 a.m. (1900GMT) Tuesday through the ceiling of their detention cell before climbing the detention facility's concrete barrier.



Atalad said his jail guards learned of the escape following a report from a civilian living near the facility.



Police teams have been deployed in Tipo-Tipo town where the escapees were allegedly sighted by villagers several hours later.



Among the escapees is Said Usman, an Abu Sayyaf member facing four counts of kidnapping with serious illegal detention charges.



Later in the day, the mayor of a predominantly Christian city in the majority Muslim region confirmed that 57 Abu Sayyaf members would be transferred from Zamboanga City after a bomb attack left two people dead and 54 others wounded Friday.



Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar told reporters that during his visit to the city Sunday, President Benigno Aquino III had approved her request for the prisoners to be transferred to a prison facility near capital Manila.



Climaco-Salazar had told the AA that Friday's explosion may have been linked to the incarceration of Abu Sayyaf members in the city.



The Basilan prison escape comes a week after authorities foiled a jailbreak plot at the Zamboanga City Jail, seizing three pistols smuggled in two charcoal stoves into the cell of Abu Sayyaf leaders Jamil Ajijul and Termili Ahmad.



The militant group has a history of staging jailbreaks.



In December 2009, 31 mostly Abu Sayyaf prisoners escaped after more than 100 gunmen attacked an Isabela City jail, leaving two escapees and a guard dead. It was the fourth escape from the jail in five years.



The Abu Sayyaf has fought a 24-year campaign for an independent Islamic state in the southwest Philippines.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Zamboanga