PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Nov) - Government soldiers killed a notorious member of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, implicated in a string of kidnappings, in a firefight Monday on the island of Olutangga off the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, a regional military commander said.
Brigadier General Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the First Infantry Division, said the fighting erupted after the militant, Tajajul Ampul, opened fire with automatic rifle, on soldiers who were trying to capture him in the village of Kaliran at around 9 a.m.
"Tajajul Ampul is killed in the firefight. There were no government casualties," he told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the gunman was involved in the kidnappings of dozens of people on Basilan island, including the Abu Sayyaf raid on a rubber plantation in 2001 in Lamitan town where eleven of the 15 farmers had been beheaded.
"Tajajul was one of the most notorious terrorist the Abu Sayyaf had on its roster. He was included in the military's order of battle and it's the end of the road for man who had no fear of God," Ferrer said.
Last week, two soldiers were attacked and wounded by the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo island, but security forces captured one of two gunmen after a running gun battle.
The soldiers were returning to their base from a humanitarian mission on a remote village on Saturday when they came under fire. Philippine authorities blamed the Abu Sayyaf for the string of bombings and kidnappings in the troubled region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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