5 Abus, 3 soldiers killed in Sulu clash

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Five Abu Sayyaf fighters and three soldiers, one of them a junior officer, were killed Thursday when Marines attacked the jungle hideout of the bandits in Sulu.

Six Marines were also wounded in fierce fighting in Barangay Pansul near the border of Patikul and Panamao towns.

The wounded soldiers and their slain comrades were airlifted to Zamboanga City late Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, a senior Abu Sayyaf member carrying a P1-million bounty on his head was arrested here Wednesday on kidnapping charges following weeks of surveillance.

Adjid Moro, alias Abu Pakistan and Wahid Malli, did not resist arrest when soldiers swooped down on a house in Barangay St. Maria here.

Col. Danilo Servando, chief military information officer, said the Basilan Regional Trial Court had ordered Moro’s arrest in connection with a series of kidnappings in the province.

Officials in Zamboanga City said Moro, who is a recruitment officer and founding member of the Abu Sayyaf, was being investigated for a spate of terrorist attacks in Mindanao.

Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya, Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) chief, said pursuing troops monitored reports of Abu Sayyaf casualties through radio signals.

"At least five Abu Sayyaf were monitored killed but the troops believed that the casualty number could be bigger," he said.

"The target is still the rescue of the seven remaining hostages and to destroy the Abu Sayyaf group."

After visiting Southcom Hospital yesterday, Abaya said troops have not sighted any of the Abu Sayyaf’s seven captives–three Indonesian seamen and four women belonging to the Jehovah’s Witness.

"But the troops were sure they have inflicted the bandits with undetermined casualty," he said.

Abaya said the Marines encountered about 40 Abu Sayyaf bandits led by Radulan Sahiron alias Commander Putol.

"The operations will go on," he said. "It was just unfortunate we suffered casualties. Most of the Abu Sayyaf commanders are now in Sulu, including those from Basilan are in Sulu."

Col. Alexander Aleo, commander of the Army’s 104th Brigade in Jolo, said troops have been deployed in Panamao and Patikul towns to block the escape route of the fleeing bandits.

"There is fresh combat but the troops are trailing the bandits to establish for possible encounter," he said. "Your forces are also combing the area they have overrun from the bandits’ occupation."

The Abu Sayyaf styles itself as an Islamic rebel group fighting for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao. It operates in Basilan, Zamboanga del Norte and Sulu provinces.

However, the group is mostly into kidnapping foreigners, including Americans, and Filipino Christians, prompting the government to consider them bandits.

In June last year, the Abu Sayyaf intercepted a Singapore-registered tugboat towing a barge delivering coal from Indonesia to Cebu in the waters off Sulu and seized four Indonesian crewmen. One crewman, however, managed to escape.

In August, the bandits took six Jehovah’s Witness Christian evangelists – four women and two men – captive. Their Muslim guide was freed but the men were beheaded.

The Abu Sayyaf had demanded P16 million in ransom for all seven hostages. The military has been combing the area for the hostages but has, so far, failed to pinpoint their location.

Last year, about 1,000 US troops spent six months in Basilan holding counter-terrorism exercises with Philippine forces as part of Washington’s global war on terror.

Considered a terrorist group by Washington, the Abu Sayyaf has been linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network and to the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, al-Qaeda’s main ally in Southeast Asia based in Indonesia.

It was blamed for a string of bombings in Zamboanga City last October that killed 11 people – including an American soldier and a Filipino marine – and wounded over 160 others.

Several Abu Sayyaf members were arrested in October for the bombings.