Filipino security forces has arrested a suspected Al-Qaeda militant in the southern Philippines, police said on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.
The suspect, Hazzer Zaidali, 40, a resident of Indanan township in Sulu and a known bailiwick of Abu Sayyaf militants, did not resist arrest when he was cordoned by police and military along Magallanes Street in the southern city of Cotabato shortly before 5:00 p.m. Monday, said city police chief Senior Superintendent Willy Dangane.
Dangane said Zaidali has a standing warrant of arrest for his involvement in previous bomb attacks in the region.
"Troops recovered a pistol from his possession," Dangane said.
The military has stepped up offensives against the Abu Sayyaf after it released three international Red Cross officials after months of abduction.
The group, blacklisted by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization, is considered a major security threat to the Philippines and the region engaged in kidnappings, bombings and even beheadings in the south over the past decade.
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