MANILA, Philippines - A total of 63 Abu Sayyaf members and 10 soldiers were killed in various clashes since November, military data showed.
Of this figure, 27 bandits and six military men were slain during the last two months of 2014. Thirty-eight militants and 29 government troopers were wounded in the same period.
Government forces stepped up offensives against the Abu Sayyaf in November following the release of Stefan Viktor Okonek and Henrite Dielen, German nationals who were abducted in Palawan in April 2014.
The operations continued after another kidnap victim, Swiss national Lorenzo Vinciguerra, was able to escape his captors last December.
Vinciguerra is one of the two European birdwatchers seized by Abu Sayyaf members off Tawi-Tawi on Feb. 1, 2012. His Dutch companion, Elwold Horn, is still being held captive by the local terrorist group.
More fatalities were recorded during clashes that transpired since January.
Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Joselito Kakilala said 36 Abu Sayyaf militants and four soldiers have been killed since January. The clashes also left 78 bandits and 44 military men wounded.
Overall, 73 persons have died and 189 others have been wounded during gun battles over the last four months.
The strength of the Abu Sayyaf rose last year despite the military’s claim that the membership of the terrorist group has been depleted.
A military yearend report showed that the number of Abu Sayyaf bandits stood at 423 in 2014, higher than the figures reported since 2009.
According to previous military statements, the strength of the Abu Sayyaf was estimated at 390 in 2009 and 340 in 2010. The group’s membership stood at 381 in 2011 and at 398 in 2012.
In 2013, security officials reported that the Abu Sayyaf’s strength stood at around 385.
The military, nevertheless, insisted that the terrorist group is weaker now compared to more than a decade ago.
“Their (Abu Sayyaf) manpower continued to dwindle from their original number in 2000 at 1,270 to 423 in 2014,” the military report released last December read.
The military’s claims, however, are continuously being challenged by the local terrorist group.
Three soldiers, two of them young officers, were killed in an ambush staged by the bandits in Barangay Pansul in Patikul, Sulu. The attack, which happened on the same day Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. visited the province.
Kakilala, however, belittled the ambush, saying it the soldiers were merely chanced upon by the Abu Sayyaf members.
“By relentlessly pursuing the criminals and terrorists inside their forest lairs, we are seeking justice to all the victims of the Abu Sayyaf’s violence,” Kakilala said.
“We are appealing to all armed groups to end all acts of violence that have caused the displacement of people from different communities. Please consider your options: Embrace lasting peace as our partners or continue to be on the run as enemies of the state,” he added.