ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 5, 2008) – Abu Sayyaf militants fired at a police station in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, but there were no reports of casualties or injuries, officials said Friday.
Senior Supt. Julasirim Kasim, Sulu provincial police chief, said police forces pursued the attackers, but did not catch up with them. The attack, he said, occurred at around 7 p.m. Wednesday in Maimbung town while policemen were having dinner.
“We have stepped up operation against the Abu Sayyaf and deployed more forces in the area to hunt down the attackers led by Abu Sayyaf commander Gafur Jumdail,” he said.
Kasim said the militants fired a rifle grenade, but it fell shortly and exploded in front of the police station. “We still don’t know the motive of the attack. It could be in retaliation to our continued operation against lawlessness,” he said.
The military’s Western Mindanao Command headquarters said at least 7 Abu Sayyaf members attacked the police station. “”There was no report of casualties,” said military spokesperson, Lieutenant Steffani Cacho.
It was unknown if the attack was connected to last month’s raid by anti-narcotics agents and soldiers on a huge marijuana plantation allegedly maintained by the Abu Sayyaf.
The Abu Sayyaf, which means “Bearer of the sword,” has been linked by authorities to the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya and blamed on the spate of bombings in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
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