6 Sayyaf men killed in gunbattle with military off Tawi-Tawi

ZAMBOANGA CITY — At least six members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf were killed in a fierce sea gunbattle with joint military forces off Tawi-Tawi yesterday.

The firefight occurred off Balimbing, Panglima Sugala town at about 4:45 p.m., said Western Mindanao Command spokesman Maj. Eugene Batara.

Batara said combined intelligence and military forces set up the operation when they chanced upon Abu Sayyaf men belonging to the group of Abu Hubaida and Jundam Jumalul, alias Blak Killer, on board a high-speed boat.

"A brief chase ensued as the terrorists tried to escape before the fierce firefight erupted," he said.

The attacking joint military forces from the Military Intelligence Group 9 (MIG), Intelligence Service Unit, Naval Intelligence Group, Marine Intelligence, 2nd Marine Battalion, Task Force Comet, 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion, 3rd Marine Brigade, Naval Task Force 61, and Special Warfare Group pursued the fleeing terrorists.

The 30-minute firefight neutralized the terrorists aboard the speedboat, Batara said.

Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, Armed Forces public information office chief, said Hubaida and Jumalul were among those killed. Jumalul carried a $20,000 bounty on his head. Also killed were four of their cohorts.

The military forces recovered an M-16, an M203, and a twin-engine pumpboat.

Meanwhile, military intelligence operatives arrested two Abu Sayyaf members believed to be involved in the hostage-taking at the Torres Memorial Hospital in Lamitan, Basilan on June 2, 2002, in Zamboanga City yesterday.

AFP chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. announced the capture of Wakil Usman and Abu Sampang during a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.

According to Batara, Wakil and Sampang were captured at the Village Restaurant along Gov. Camins street at about 2:30 p.m. — Roel Pareño, James Mananghaya