WHILE assisting the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and police in implementing the election gun ban in the region, the government armed forces continue the hunt on the high-value targets, a top military official disclosed Wednesday.
Lieutenant General Benjamin Mohammad Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) chief, said the offensive continues in the island provinces of Basilan and Sulu where the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf bandits are hiding.
Dolorfino said among that the high-value targets are the remaining Abu Sayyaf leaders that include Al-Bader Parad, Radulan Sahiron and Doctor Abu Pula, who are hiding in the hinterlands of Sulu.
In Basilan, the considered high-value target is Puruji Indama, whose group has been tagged as responsible in the recent kidnappings in the said province, Dolorfino added.
Dolorfino also disclosed that they consider Sulu as the most "volatile" province in Wesmincom area of responsibility due to the presence of the Abu Sayyaf bandits and other lawless elements.
Meanwhile, the marine forces have already arrested two people and confiscated two caliber .45 pistols since the election gun ban took effect in the entire country last Sunday. (Bong Garcia)