Two Sayyaf bandits killed

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Two Abu Sayyaf bandits and four civilians were killed, and two Scout Rangers and 10 evacuees wounded in separate skirmishes between Army troops and suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels and Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu.

In Jolo, two brothers were killed and another 10 people injured Wednesday when a mortar fired by Army troops at the suspected MILF rebels hit an evacuation center in Jolo.

The brothers, both Muslims, were 50 and 55 years old, while the ages of those injured ranged from one to 57.

Sulu provincial police director Hainon Aldilrin told reporters yesterday the troops were in pursuit of the armed group when they escaped into the evacuation center located in a public school.

The Army fired mortars and one of the rounds hit the evacuation center, he added.

In Indanan town, two Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed and two Scout Rangers wounded in a one-hour skirmish between Army troops and the Abu Sayyaf in Barangay Tubig Dacula, also last Wednesday.

Two civilians were also killed and nine others wounded in the crossfire when the fighting spilled out into a nearby farming community.

Killed were Winnie Sabdani and Ottoh Salih.

Wounded were: Sappayani Hajad, 70; Najib Asirin, 12; Maqdal Daud, 28; Aljimar Sadjail, 16; Hajija Sadjail, 55; Satdani Nurais, 50; Abdurahiman Daud, 18; Hairunmihna Sadjail, 53; and one known only as Dan Mark.

They were taken to the Sulu Provincial Hospital.

The wounded Scout Rangers were: Pfc. Ernesto Verano and Cpl. Marlon Butig.

Army Capt. Noel Detoyato, deputy spokesman for the Armed Forces Southern Command, said two Air Force attack helicopters fired rockets at the rebel position.

Detoyato said the Abu Sayyaf bandits tried to elude the soldiers by fleeing to a nearby barangay and using the residents as human shields in their escape.

"The bandits sought cover to the villagers and used them as human shields," he said.

Detoyato said troops from the Army’s 104th Brigade in Jolo were immediately sent to the scene of fighting to extend all available assistance to wounded civilians.

Col. Romeo Tolentino, commander of the 104th Brigade, had ordered his men to continue the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf, he added. –Roel Pareño