ZAMBOANGA, Philippines – The military says troops have found bomb-making materials in a camp abandoned by al-Qaida-linked militants in the southern Philippines.
Brig. Gen. Nicanor Dolojan says soldiers discovered the Abu Sayyaf camp on Friday outside Al-Barka township on Basilan island. He says they found two homemade bombs, 14 mortar rounds and other bomb-making materials.
He says the soldiers stumbled upon the camp while hunting for a wounded Abu Sayyaf commander, Nurhassan Jamiri, who has been blamed for beheadings, kidnappings and bombings on Basilan.
The Abu Sayyaf is on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. One of its bombs killed two U.S. soldiers on southern Jolo island in September 2009.
