19 US soldiers arrive in Zambo

US soldiers arrived in Zamboanga City yesterday as government forces pushed their offensive against the Abu Sayyaf 20 kilometers away in the jungles of Basilan to rescue American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina nurse Deborah Yap.

Karen Kelley, US Embassy spokeswoman, said she was not aware of the mission of the 19 American soldiers, who were seen at Edwin Andrews Air Base in camouflage uniforms and carrying backpacks while disembarking from a C-130 transport plane with a large van.

But President Arroyo said the 19 soldiers were members of US Special Forces sent to train and advice Filipino troopers in their fight against the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

The President said the military advisers are part of the US Delta Force, a light reaction unit, being employed in the global war against terror.

But Mrs. Arroyo stressed that the military advisers will not be involved in combat operations.

"We have agreed that we will listen to US experts and their advice. So, basically these soldiers are there for one thing, for advice," she said.

Elmer Cato, a government official monitoring joint exercises with US troops, said the Air Force had advised his office that the transport plane had picked the Americans from Clark Air Base before flying them to Zamboanga.

In Basilan, crack troops, who recently underwent US military training, killed 13 Abu Sayyaf bandits in two separate encounters on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Isabela City. Two soldiers were wounded.

Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan, Armed Forces spokesman, said the advancing Army troops are nearing the jungle hideout of the bandits, where the three hostages are believed to be held.

"The (band) is being held by a major commander who provides perimeter security to (Abu Sayyaf leader Abu) Sabaya’s lair where the hostages are being kept," he said.

The guerrillas fighting the soldiers were acting as first line of defense for Abu Sabaya, he added.

Col. Hermogenes Esperon, regional Army commander, said the fighting started at 6:30 a.m. Thursday in the Kumalarang suburb of Isabela.

Troops and policemen were securing downtown Isabela and evacuating some residents of Kumalarang, according to Basilan police commander Senior Superintendent Bensali Jabarani.

Esperon said the soldiers encountered the Abu Sayyaf band while scouring the jungle for the Burnhams who were kidnapped May 27 from the Dos Palmas Resort in Palawan, and Yap who was snatched several days later from the Dr. Jose Torres Memorial Hospital in Lantawan town.

"After the clash, the enemy broke into smaller groups and fled towards the jungle, but soldiers are trailing them and sooner or later we will get them all," he said.

Esperon said his men killed 13 Abu Sayyaf bandits, captured another and seized night vision equipment and a heavy recoilless rifle.

"There is a blood trail and there could be more than three casualties on the Abu Sayyaf side," he said. "The bandits fled to nearby Kumalarang and continued the fight."

The bodies of the slain Abu Sayyaf bandits were recovered and bloodstains at the scene indicated the kidnappers had suffered more casualties, he added.

More that 7,000 government troops are scouring the jungle-covered mountains of Basilan for the Burnhams and Yap, the last of scores of hostages taken in a kidnapping spree early this year.

In late October, a US military advisory team visited Zamboanga to assess the campaign of the Armed Forces against the Abu Sayyaf.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has beheaded American Guillermo Sobero and killed over a dozen Filipino hostages in Basilan, are believed to have links with Osama bin Laden, the main suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.