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| 53 inmates escape Philippine prison |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/19/2004 |
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More than 50 inmates, including many suspected members of a militant Islamist group, used a smuggled pistol to escape from a southern Philippine prison April 10, officials said. At least nine were killed by police. Provincial official Christopher Puno said 53 of 137 inmates at the Basilan Provincial Jail, including many members of the Al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, escaped. Eight inmates were recaptured, said Senior Inspector William Gadayan, police chief of Isabela city, the capital of Basilan. He said three officers were injured in the breakout, one seriously. The escape came just two days after soldiers outside Isabela killed six alleged Abu Sayyaf members, including Hamsiraji Sali, one of five guerrilla leaders wanted by Washington in the deaths of two American hostages. Gadayan said the escape may have been in retaliation for Sali's death and an effort by the Abu Sayyaf to regroup. Quoting officers, Puno said an inmate's wife smuggled in a .45-caliber pistol, which the inmates used to overpower the officers. They also seized a shotgun and two M-16 rifles equipped with grenade launchers from the officers, he said. At least two of those killed and three who were recaptured were suspected Abu Sayyaf members, Puno said. |
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