JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 12 Apr) – Two soldiers were reported killed in a clash with Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Filipino island of Jolo, officials said Thursday.
Officials said the fighting erupted on the village of Buanza in Indanan town on Wednesday where more than 100 militants were holed out. There were no immediate reports of casualties on the Abu Sayyaf side.
The fighting, described as fierce, lasted over two hours. The gunmen, led by Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron, split into smaller groups and fled to the hinterlands.
Other reports said renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front aided the gunmen in the fighting.
There were no immediate reports of fresh clashes, but more troops were sent on Thursday to the town to track down the militants, whose group is tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.
On Monday. Government soldiers raided a hideout of the Jemaah Islamiya in Jolo’s Talipao town and captured three local militants.
But one of two Jemaah Islamiya bombers, Umar Patek, and a senior Abu Sayyaf leader, Isnilon Hapilon, had escaped the raiders in the village of Kanlimot, a known stronghold of the local terrorist group.
One soldier was also wounded in a separate clash Monday in Bakong village in Patikul town on the other side of the island.
Besides Patek, soldiers were also hunting down Dulmatin and Malaysian terror suspect Zulkifli bin Hir and other Jemaah Islamiya militants hiding on the island under the protection of the Abu Sayyaf.
Jakarta tagged both Patek and Dulmatin as behind the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australian holiday-makers.
While Zulkifli bin Hir, an engineer trained in the U.S. allegedly heads the Kumpulun Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) terrorist organization and is a member of Jemaah Islamiya central command.
Washington offered as much as $10 million reward for the capture of Dulmatin and $ 5 million for Zulkifli and Hapilon and another $1 million bounty for Patek.
The latest fighting broke out ahead of a planned peace advocacy forum in Jolo island on the government peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group.
The MILF is fighting the past three decades for a separate homeland in Mindanao. (With a report from Hassan Hatab, Special for the Mindanao Examiner)
Officials said the fighting erupted on the village of Buanza in Indanan town on Wednesday where more than 100 militants were holed out. There were no immediate reports of casualties on the Abu Sayyaf side.
The fighting, described as fierce, lasted over two hours. The gunmen, led by Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron, split into smaller groups and fled to the hinterlands.
Other reports said renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front aided the gunmen in the fighting.
There were no immediate reports of fresh clashes, but more troops were sent on Thursday to the town to track down the militants, whose group is tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.
On Monday. Government soldiers raided a hideout of the Jemaah Islamiya in Jolo’s Talipao town and captured three local militants.
But one of two Jemaah Islamiya bombers, Umar Patek, and a senior Abu Sayyaf leader, Isnilon Hapilon, had escaped the raiders in the village of Kanlimot, a known stronghold of the local terrorist group.
One soldier was also wounded in a separate clash Monday in Bakong village in Patikul town on the other side of the island.
Besides Patek, soldiers were also hunting down Dulmatin and Malaysian terror suspect Zulkifli bin Hir and other Jemaah Islamiya militants hiding on the island under the protection of the Abu Sayyaf.
Jakarta tagged both Patek and Dulmatin as behind the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australian holiday-makers.
While Zulkifli bin Hir, an engineer trained in the U.S. allegedly heads the Kumpulun Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) terrorist organization and is a member of Jemaah Islamiya central command.
Washington offered as much as $10 million reward for the capture of Dulmatin and $ 5 million for Zulkifli and Hapilon and another $1 million bounty for Patek.
The latest fighting broke out ahead of a planned peace advocacy forum in Jolo island on the government peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group.
The MILF is fighting the past three decades for a separate homeland in Mindanao. (With a report from Hassan Hatab, Special for the Mindanao Examiner)
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