'Abu Sayyaf members escape'

2004-04-10 12:51

Zamboanga, Philippines - Around 53 prisoners including many suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf escaped from jail in the southern Philippines on Saturday, officials said.

Three of the escaped prisoners were later killed and three others have since been recaptured, while three jail guards were wounded in the incident on the island of Basilan, said jail warden Ajilmaril Sali.

Sali said they still did not have a full headcount of those who escaped, but local army commander Colonel Raymundo Ferrer said 53 of the 137 prisoners in the jail on the outskirts of Isabela Cityhad had broken out.

Provincial spokesperson Chris Puno said initial reports indicated that a prison visitor had smuggled in a gun which was used to hold a guard hostage, forcing him to open the cells.

Local police chief Chief Superintendent Servando Hizon said his men were pursuing the escaped detainees, but they were putting up a fight in some areas.

The escaped prisoners had broken up into smaller groups and scattered in different directions said Ferrer, whose troops were helping in the pursuit.

The officials could not immediately say exactly how many of the escapees were members of the Abu Sayyaf, an extremist Islamic kidnap-for-ransom group based in Basilan that has also bombed Christian and foreign targets for over a decade.

The jailbreak came despite tightened security in the south imposed after the killing of senior Abu Sayyaf leader Hamsiraji Sali and five other members of the group on Thursday.

Washington and Manila have linked the Abu Sayyaf to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Six suspected Abu Sayyaf members were arrested in Manila last month for allegedly planning a "Madrid-level" series of bombings targeting shopping malls and railways. - AFP

- AFP