Brig. Gen. Alexander Yapching, commander of the Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade and Task Force Comet running after the extremist rebels, said the firefight erupted when men of the 39th Marine Company and the Special Operation Patrol of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 9 chanced upon some 40 followers of Sahiron.
The one-armed Sahiron has gained notoriety for his role in the abduction of mostly foreign tourists in the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan and of three Hong Kong nationals a few years ago.
Meanwhile, three Abu Sayyaf men allegedly behind the killing of a father and son in Tawi-Tawi last month, were arrested in Panglima Sugala town. — Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude