Six soldiers injured in Sayyaf Sulu ambush

Soldiers inspect the damaged military truck hit by an Abu Sayyaf landmine explosion Friday, April 03, 2009 in the southern Philippine province of Sulu. Six marines were wounded in the attack in the village of Danag in Patikul town. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Nickee Butlangan)

Freed Filipino Red Cross hostage Mary Jean Lacaba in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 03, 2009) – At least six soldiers were injured in an Abu Sayyaf attack Friday in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, where militants are holding hostage two Red Cross workers.

Marine Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga, commander of military forces in-charge of rescuing the captives, said the Abu Sayyaf detonated a landmine planted on a highway in the village of Danag in Patikul town as a truck transporting troops was passing.

“The soldiers are part of a security force guarding the highway to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from escaping a military cordon in Sulu,” Allaga told the Mindanao Examiner.

The attack came a day after the Abu Sayyaf freed Filipino Red Cross worker Mary Jean Lacaba in the jungle of Indanan town. Two other aid workers, Swiss national Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni remain in captivity in the group of Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad.

Allaga tagged an Abu Sayyaf faction headed by Radulan Sahiron as behind the latest attack. He said Sahiron’s group was trying to reinforce Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya (JI) militants holding the two hostages.

Military reports tagged JI militants Muawiyah, an Indian-Singaporean Muslim who also uses the alias Manobo; Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and probably Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both Javanese as among the Abu Sayyaf group holding the aid workers.

The fate of the two hostages remain unknown, but military and government officials negotiating with the Abu Sayyaf, said Notter and Vagni are alive.

Lacaba on Friday was fetched by Senator Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine National Red Cross, and brought to Manila where her anxious family and relatives were waiting.

The Red Cross workers were kidnapped January 15 in Patikul town where they inspected a humanitarian project. Lacaba was released late Thursday in Indanan town to Sulu Vice Governor Nur Anna Sahidulla, who is the government’s emissary to the Abu Sayyaf.
Sahidula said she was contacted by the Abu Sayyaf.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan, head of the government task force working for the safe release of the aid workers, has declared a state of emergency in the province. (Mindanao Examiner)