‘Robot’ critically hurt — sources

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Recent fierce fighting in the jungles of Talipao, Sulu has left controversial Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot critically wounded, sources said.

Informants from Sulu revealed that Andang is now nursing a serious wound in an undisclosed place in Jolo where the bandit group is based.

The circumstances of Andang’s wounding were not clear, although sources believe he was among those hurt when Abu Sayyaf rebels clashed with government troops in Mabahay, a district in Talipao town, last Nov. 30.

Andang was reportedly last seen on Dec. 2 in Jolo being escorted by four heavily armed men to receive medical treatment in the Sulu capital. "He’s seriously hurt," an informant said.

The military has uncovered a mass grave containing 15 decomposing bodies in Sulu. Officials believe the bodies belong to followers of Andang who were killed in the Abu Sayyaf’s most recent clash with soldiers.

Military elements are now scouring the hinterlands of Sulu in search of Andang and other Abu Sayyaf members who might have been also wounded in the Nov. 30 fighting.

It was the first time that Andang was reported wounded since the military launched a major offensive against his group last Sept. 16.

The Abu Sayyaf is still holding two hostages, both remnants from the group the bandits seized early this year.

Andang was among the seven Abu Sayyaf leaders who led the abduction of 21 mostly foreign hostages from the Sipadan diving resort in Malaysia last April.

He figured prominently in subsequent negotiations for the hostages’ release, having reportedly received the bulk of the P245 million alleged ransom payment for the captives.

Superintendent Candido Casimiro, Sulu police chief, said he has sent a team of agents to find out if Andang is still in Jolo.

Meanwhile, Army troopers and agents of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force raided a house in Basilan allegedly being used as hideout by other Abu Sayyaf rebels.

Army Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman of the military’s Southern Command, said a certain Isnani Issah was killed in the raid on a house in Barangay Kaumpumah, a coastal village in Isabela, Basilan.