A television grab from ABS-CBN shows Abu Sayyaf terrorist leader Albader Parad and followers holding three Red Cross workers Andreas Notter, Eugenio Vagni and Mary Jean Lacaba in Sulu province. (Mindanao Examiner)
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 07, 2009) – Government forces clashed with Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, where three kidnapped Red Cross workers are being held, police said Saturday.
Police said there were no reports of casualties on both sides in the fighting that erupted Friday in the village called Timpook. “The militants also burned a school in the village,” said Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim, the Sulu police chief.
Kasim said police forces were sent to the area to secure the civilians. He said the fighting broke out after patrolling troops spotted the band of Abu Sayyaf under Commander Juhurin Hussein. “It was a chance encounter,” he said.
Another faction of the Abu Sayyaf is still holding Swiss national Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba, who works for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
They were kidnapped January 15 after inspecting a humanitarian project at a prison facility in Patikul town. Police tagged a dismissed jail guard Raden Abu as one of five gunmen who seized the three aid workers and who were later handed to the Abu Sayyaf headed by Albader Parad and Abu Pula.
The two militants are among the most wanted terrorists in the Philippines and were behind the spate of bombings and kidnappings-for-ransom in the province. (Mindanao Examiner)
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