ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 20 Feb) – Government troops clashed with Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, leaving a soldier and a gunman dead, as security forces continue Tuesday its offensive with the militant group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya, officials said.
Officials said the fighting late Monday also left four army soldiers wounded in the hinterland village of Tagbak in Indanan town.
“One soldier and an Abu Sayyaf were killed in the fighting. Four army soldiers are also wounded,” Major Eugene Batarra, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said security forces were still pursuing the Abu Sayyaf on Tuesday on the island, about 950 km south of Manila. “The operation is going on. Troops are pursuing the terrorists,” he said.
The fighting in Jolo coincided with the ongoing joint anti-terror drill between U.S. and Philippine soldiers. Thousands of soldiers were involved in the training, dubbed as Balikatan 2007.
Philippine military chief General Hermogenes Esperon has ordered troops to finished 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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