Manila
Philippine security forces were on alert Saturday for possible reprisal attacks after arresting a key leader of an Islamic State-linked militant group accused of kidnapping and beheading several foreigners. Abduljihad Susukan, a member of Abu Sayyaf, was detained in the southern city of Davao and flown to the capital Manila on Friday, where he was being held at the national police headquarters. He has been charged with 23 murders, five kidnappings and six attempted murders, a police statement said. Listed by the United States as a terrorist organisation, Abu Sayyaf is a loose network of Islamic militants blamed for the country’s worst terror attacks as well as kidnappings of foreign tourists and Christian missionaries.—AFP
