The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Zamboanga Peninsula reported that three people allegedly linked to the kidnapping of American photographer Elliot Eastman were neutralized in an encounter in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay on Tuesday.
The suspects killed during the gunfight were identified as Mursid Ahod, Abdul and Fahad Sahibad.
“Intelligence suggests that Ahod and the Sahibad brothers provided refuge and support to other suspects and persons of interest involved in Mr. Eastman’s abduction, enabling their evasion from authorities,” according to PNP-Zamboanga.
The PNP together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) conducted the operation in Barangay Canacan on the morning of November 12, Tuesday, which led to a gunfight with 10 supposed lawless elements.
According to the 1st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, Ahod was involved in numerous kidnap-for-ransom, extortion, and theft cases, and was also a suspect in the Kabasalan Massacre in 2015 and
2016.
Meanwhile, the AFP said Abdul and Fahad were alleged members of a kidnap-for-ransom group operating in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Kidnapping and serious illegal detention complaints have been filed against six suspects in Eastman’s abduction, three of them already in police custody.
3 suspects in Eastman kidnapping killed in Zamboanga Peninsula
