Tahira is married to Army Captain Sansawi Ismael, a former top MNLF officer and now a military integree.
[2] In 2002, as mayor, Ismael accused the Philippine military of killing three civilians in a mistaken counterterrorism operation targeting Abu Sayyaf bandits on Dasalan island off Basilan.
Ismael told Col. Renato Miranda, chief of the 2nd Marine Brigade, during a Crisis Management Committee meeting in Isabela City.
[4] In the midst of counterterrorism operations in 2007, Ismael sought a greater role for local government units (LGUs) in the province to pursue the suspects behind the July 10, 2007 attack that killed numerous marines.
"This is Basilan and we know who these people are," Ismael said as she proposed to let the LGUs reactivate their barangay intelligence system in aid of arresting the suspects.