ZAMBOANGA CITY –Two more Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed in a clash as government forces have continued to pursue the bandits in the hinterlands of Sulu, the military said Friday.
Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Joint Task Force Sulu commander, said the clash happened on Wednesday afternoon in Barangay Latih, Patikul as the blocking force from the Army’s 5th Special Forces Company chanced upon a group of fleeing Abu Sayyaf bandits.
Sobejana said the Abu Sayyaf bandits belong to the group who figured in a firefight with the Scout Rangers on Tuesday in Barangay Panglahayan, also in Patikul town.
Tuesday’s clash resulted to the death of five Abu Sayyaf bandits and six soldiers injured.
“We immediately sent two Special Forces teams and CAFGU Active Auxiliary (CAA) members as reinforcements of our troops at the area of encounter,” Sobejana said.
“Our supporting units also provided artillery rounds towards the target upon the request of the troops who have eye-ball on the enemy’s location,” he added.
Sobejana said the soldiers recovered the remains of a slain Abu Sayyaf in a clearing operation after the bandits fled to different directions.
He said the slain bandit was later identified by the barangay officials as Roger Samlahon, an Urban Terrorist Group member, who was involved in kidnapping incidents in Jolo, Sulu.
He said the troops also recovered from the clash site an R4A3 assault rifle, one M-203 grenade launcher, two cellular phones, and backpack with personal belongings.
“We will give him a decent burial, we are just waiting for the officials of the Barangay to claim the remains,” Sobejana said .
“We also learned that another Abu Sayyaf died from the firefight, but we are still on the process of knowing where he was buried,” he added.
Helicopter gunships provided aerial support as the ground forces continue to scour the hinterlands of Patikul in pursuit of the fleeing Abu Sayyaf bandits.
“We will give our soldiers the best of our assets as they continue to sustain the operations in pursuing the Abu Sayyaf Group who are still on the run as of this time while dragging along their kidnap victims,” Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr., Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief said.
“It is our priority to rescue the kidnap victims thus our soldiers are very very careful in their movements and bombardments,” Galvez added.
The Abu Sayyaf bandits are still holding 10 more hostages.
They comprised of three Indonesians, one Dutch, one Vietnamese, and five Filipinos. (PNA)
