BASILAN ISLAND (Zamboanga Journal / 09 Aug) Filipino soldiers clashed Wednesday with Abu Sayyaf militants tied to Jemaah Islamiya terror network in the southern island of Jolo, the military said.
Officials said the fighting erupted after marine soldiers pursuing the Abu Sayyaf caught up with a group in Patikul town. There were no immediate reports of casualties, but officials claimed troops recovered an M16 automatic rifle and a .45-caliber pistol left behind by the Abu Sayyaf.
The clash came a day after suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen killed a government soldier near Tagbak village in Indanan town, scene of fierce fighting between security and Abu Sayyaf forces the past week.
The soldier was returning to his barracks on motorcycle when gunmen opened fire at around 10 a.m. The attackers carted his pistol and escaped to the hills. Abu Sayyaf hitmen had killed in the past dozens of soldiers and policemen and civilians suspected of aiding the authorities in the strife-torn Jolo island, about 950 km south of Manila.
The fighting on the island began last week after the military mounted offensive to flush out Khadaffy Janjalani, chieftain of the Abu Sayyaf and two Jemaah Islamiya leaders Umar Patek and Dulmatin, who were reported hiding in Jolo. Both Patek and Dulmatin were tagged as behind the deadly 2002 Bali bombings.
More than a dozen militants and soldiers were killed and wounded in the clashes on Jolo island, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group.
Washington listed the Abu Sayyaf as a foreign terrorist organization and was implicated in the kidnapping of three US citizens in 2001, two of them were killed during captivity. The US has offered $10 million bounty each for the capture of Janjalani and Dulmatin and another $1 million for Patek.
Philippine authorities have implicated Dulmatin in the 2003 bombing of the Davao International Airport and Sasa wharf in Davao City in Mindanao.Three of his local Abu Sayyaf contacts -- Pedro Guiamat, Ali Salipada and Norodin Mangalen -- were arrested last year in Maguindanao Province.
Officials said the fighting erupted after marine soldiers pursuing the Abu Sayyaf caught up with a group in Patikul town. There were no immediate reports of casualties, but officials claimed troops recovered an M16 automatic rifle and a .45-caliber pistol left behind by the Abu Sayyaf.
The clash came a day after suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen killed a government soldier near Tagbak village in Indanan town, scene of fierce fighting between security and Abu Sayyaf forces the past week.
The soldier was returning to his barracks on motorcycle when gunmen opened fire at around 10 a.m. The attackers carted his pistol and escaped to the hills. Abu Sayyaf hitmen had killed in the past dozens of soldiers and policemen and civilians suspected of aiding the authorities in the strife-torn Jolo island, about 950 km south of Manila.
The fighting on the island began last week after the military mounted offensive to flush out Khadaffy Janjalani, chieftain of the Abu Sayyaf and two Jemaah Islamiya leaders Umar Patek and Dulmatin, who were reported hiding in Jolo. Both Patek and Dulmatin were tagged as behind the deadly 2002 Bali bombings.
More than a dozen militants and soldiers were killed and wounded in the clashes on Jolo island, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group.
Washington listed the Abu Sayyaf as a foreign terrorist organization and was implicated in the kidnapping of three US citizens in 2001, two of them were killed during captivity. The US has offered $10 million bounty each for the capture of Janjalani and Dulmatin and another $1 million for Patek.
Philippine authorities have implicated Dulmatin in the 2003 bombing of the Davao International Airport and Sasa wharf in Davao City in Mindanao.Three of his local Abu Sayyaf contacts -- Pedro Guiamat, Ali Salipada and Norodin Mangalen -- were arrested last year in Maguindanao Province.
A bomb hidden in a backpack exploded in March 2003 at the Davao airport terminal, killing 19 people, including a US missionary William Hyde, and wounding more than 145 people. A second bomb explosion also ripped through a passenger terminal in Sasa wharf that killed and wounded dozens of people.
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