One of the three inmates stabbed a police officer who was delivering breakfast after dawn in an open area,where inmates could exercise outdoors. A police officer in a sentry tower fired warning shots,and then shot and killed two of the prisoners,including Abu Sayyaf commander Idang Susukan,when they refused to yield,police said.
The third inmate ran to de Lima’s cell and briefly held her hostage,but he was also gunned down by police commandos,Azurin said.
“She’s safe. We were able to quickly resolve the incident inside the custodial centre,” Azurin told reporters.
Susukan,who had been blamed for dozens of killings and beheadings of hostages,including foreign tourists,and other terrorist attacks was arrested two years ago in southern Davao city.
The other two inmates,Arnel Cabintoy and Feliciano Sulayao jnr,were suspected members of the Dawlah Islamiyah,a Muslim militant group that has been linked to bombings and other deadly attacks in the country’s south. They were arrested in 2019 in suburban Quezon city in the capital region,and were facing non-bailable charges along with Susukan,police officials said.
Many militants belonging to Abu Sayyaf,which the United States and the Philippines consider to be a terrorist organisation,and the Dawlah Islamiyah have aligned themselves with the Islamic State group.