Marines overrun another Sayyaf training camp

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Marines and Army Scout Rangers seized a forward base of the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) following a series of skirmishes over the weekend in the jungles of Patikul, Sulu.

Lt. Col. Susthenes Valcorza, Armed Forces Southern Command spokesman, said two Scout Rangers and six Abu Sayyaf terrorists were killed in fierce fighting to capture the rebel camp at Mt. Sinumaan in Patikul.

Twenty-one Scout Rangers and four Marines were wounded in the skirmish, he added.

Valcorza said the Marines and Scout Rangers took the camp after two hours of fighting that forced the terrorists to escape, dragging along their casualties.

The camp has two fortified dug-in bunkers and running trenches that can accommodate 30 people, he added.

Troops recovered from the scene 14 exploded 60-mm. mortars and 57-mm, 7.62-mm, and M-60 machine-gun shells, Valcorza said.

The military has been pursuing the Abu Sayyaf rebels who are believed to be securing their chieftain Khadaffi Janjalani and two JI militants, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who are wanted for the Bali bombing in Indonesia in October 2002.

The security dragnet and naval blockade around Sulu have prevented Janjalani and his two JI cohorts from escaping, the military said. — Roel Pareño