Abu commander killed Sulu residents evacuated

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Top Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon was wounded and his son and a follower were killed when Marines and Army Special Forces attacked a terrorist training camp in Sulu on Wednesday.

Rogue Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) members tried but failed to aid the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) band, according to a senior military official.

Maj. Eugene Batara Jr. Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command spokesman, said Hapilon was wounded in the hand after Marines and Special Forces overran the camp in sitio Kandilamon, Indanan town.

Kandilamon is adjacent to Barangay Marang, where the MNLF forces are holding camp.

Batara said the son of Hapilon identified as Tabari was fatally wounded in the head and abdomen and died while another member was killed in the operation that began before dawn Wednesday.

Hapilon is the last of four Abu Sayyaf commanders wanted by the US government for the kidnapping of three American citizens, two of whom were murdered during the 2001 Dos Palmas kidnapping.

The US government placed up to $5 million in bounty for the “neutralization” of Hapilon.

Other Abu Sayyaf commanders now dead are Abu Sabaya, Hamsiraji Sali and Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani.

Marine Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, anti-terror Task Force Comet commander, said the midweek offensive demonstrated precision as troops completed their mission ahead of schedule.

“The operation demonstrated the capability of our forces that even if the terrorists will camp in the perimeter of the other rebel groups we can hit them with precision,” he said.

Sabban said although they have no exact figures, the military believes the Abu Sayyaf and JI band suffered losses as the militants were monitored retrieving casualties as they were retreating.

“We have the night flying capability and night operation capability that monitored their losses,” he said.

Sabban said the operation was discriminately targeting the Abu Sayyaf and JI despite the monitored reinforcement by some rogue MNLF fighters.

Intelligence buildup has been launched to track down the Abu Sayyaf and JI terrorists, who fled to a new  jungle location, he added.

Fighting displaces hundreds

Hundreds of families have been displaced in the latest round of fighting between government troops and the Abu Sayyaf in Indanan, Sulu.

A total of 335 families from Sitio Marang, Barangay Kagay have left their homes for fear of being caught in the crossfire, according to the Department of National Defense’s Office of Civil Defense (OCD).

The evacuees are now temporarily sheltered at Sitio Talatak, Barangay Bato Bato, where they are receiving basic needs from  regional and local disaster officials and relief volunteers.

“The Sulu provincial disaster council in coordination with the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have conducted relief distribution today (yesterday) to the evacuees,” OCD administrator Glenn Rabonza said.

Relief operations

The Sulu provincial government conducted relief operations for more than a thousand civilians displaced in the recent military operation against the Abu Sayyaf and JI in the jungle of Indanan town.

Presidential Assistant for Sulu Amilbahar Amilasan said the Department of Social Welfare and Development provincial office and area coordinating center has secured the relief for the affected civilians temporarily housed in two areas of Bato-Bato and sitio Talatak.

The provincial area coordinating center listed 338 families or a total of 1,690 dependents who fled from Barangay Kagay for fear the hostility would escalate in the area during Wednesday’s military offensive, he added.

Among the relief goods distributed were rice, sardines and noodles.

Amilasan said they have foreseen the immediate return of the evacuees to their barangays after the military seized the Abu Sayyaf camp in Indanan.

“The military managed to restrict the hostility within the target area,” he said.  – With Jaime Laude