ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Government forces seized bomb-making materials on Wednesday following an encounter against members of a local group believed to have ties with the Abu Sayyaf in the city.
Task Force Zamboanga commander Colonel Buenaventura Pascual said combined military and police forces were deployed after Pingli group followers were sighted in the coast of Landang Laum village.
The Pingli group is tagged as local conduit of the Abu Sayyaf bandits in staging kidnapping in the city.
The Pingli followers fled after the brief firefight, leaving behind their motorized banca with tool box containing bomb-making materials, Pascual said.
The seized materials include ammonium nitrate placed in a 1.5 liter container, electronic tester, nine-volt batteries, printed circuit boards, mini-drill, transistors, capacitors, light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, soldering iron, soldering lead, diodes and wires.
Pascual said Landang Laum is one of the four villages in Sacol Island used by the Pingli group as staging point in committing atrocities, including kidnapping.
The bomb-making materials were turned over to the explosive ordnance demolition section of the Zamboanga City Police Office for safe keeping, Pascual said. (Sunnex)
