ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 24 Feb) – Philippine soldiers clashed Saturday with Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern island of Jolo, killing a still undetermined number of gunmen, officials said.
Officials said the fighting in the hinterland village of Buanza in Indanan town left one soldier wounded.
The soldiers, all from the Army’s 6th Special Rangers Company, were tracking down the Abu Sayyaf when they ran into a group of militants and a firefight ensued.
The gunmen, numbering about 40 and believed to be under Abu Sayyaf leaders Radullan Sahiron and Albader Parad, broke into smaller groups and fled, officials said, adding, troops were pursuing the militants.
On Monday, security forces also clashed with the Abu Sayyaf in Indanan’s Tagbak village killing a government soldier and a militant. Four other soldiers were wounded in the clash.
The fighting in Jolo coincided with the ongoing joint anti-terror drill between U.S. and Philippine soldiers.
Philippine military chief General Hermogenes Esperon ordered troops to finish off the Abu Sayyaf and capture two key Jemaah Islamiya militants, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, hiding on Jolo island.
Jakarta implicated both Dulmatin and Patek to the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign holidaymakers.
Washington listed the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya as foreign terrorist organizations and offered as much as $10 million bounty for Dulmatin’s capture. Manila also set aside P100 million reward for the capture of known Abu Sayyaf leaders, dead or alive. (Mindanao Examiner)
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