Col. Juvenal Narcise, spokesman of Task Force Comet, said the firefight broke out when the militiamen pursued a group of Abu Sayyaf leaders who fled to Basilan from nearby Sulu island, where they still hold Roland Ullah, a Filipino diving instructor, hostage.
An unspecified number of Abu Sayyaf members were also killed in the clash which took place on Tapiantana Island just off the Basilan coast, but their bodies were taken away by their comrades, Narcise said.
Among the Abu Sayyaf rebels being pursued were Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Asmad Salayuddi alias Abu Sabaya, whose group had held American hostage Jeffrey Schilling for eight months before he was rescued early this month.
Narcise said Janjalani and Sabaya, along with their followers, fled to Basilan to escape a massive government assault in Sulu.
Abu Sabaya phoned radio station dxLL Radyo Ukay and claimed that they seized 15 assorted high-powered firearms and three motorboats from the militiamen.
"We warned the government that we are ready to face them," he said.
Narcise said Col. Saulito Aromin, commander of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade, has dispatched elements of the 10th Infantry Battalion to pursue the extremist guerrillas. — Roel Pareño