Abu Sayyaf leader Umbra Jumdail alias Dr. Abu Pula was trying to retrieve the remains of his right-hand man Edimar Salip in the middle of a gunbattle with soldiers from the 33rd Infantry Battalion in barangay Tambaking, Maimbung, Jolo when wounded. “Dr. Abu Pula fell on several occasions but managed to escape minus his right-hand man,” Col. Antonio Mark Supnet, commander of the 104th Army Brigade, said. Later found in Salip’s possession was a Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) identification card.
The US government is offering a P5-million reward to anyone who can provide information that will lead to the arrest or death of Jumdail. [He is] a paramedic expert and one of two senior Abu Sayyaf leaders. The other is Radulan Sahiron. JumdailÂ’s son Masdal was killed in the Thursday encounter which left 25 soldiers and 32 Moro rebels killed and several others wounded. Masdal was an aide of Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad. |