MANILA, Philippines, May 10 (UPI) -- Philippine military forces have stepped up their hunt for al-Qaida connected terrorists.
Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, in charge of troops in the southern Philippines, made the announcement in Zamboanga City Wednesday following the capture earlier in the week of an Abu Sayyaf operative connected with kidnappings and beheadings on Basilan and Jolo islands.
"We have doubled our efforts to trace members of the Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines," he said. "Troops are intensifying the hunt for terrorists."
The Manila Times said the announcement also coincided with military forces parading the captured terrorist before journalists gathered at Southern Command headquarters in Zamboanga.
Komeni Pael was captured in a remote village after residents tipped off authorities as to his presence.
He was the second Abu Sayyaf terrorist captured recently. Last month Abdusalih Dimah, implicated in the kidnapping and beheading of 20 holiday makers -- including two U.S. missionaries -- at an exclusive resort was apprehended.
