ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Fresh fighting erupted in Sulu yesterday, as the Abu Sayyaf staged an ambush in Parang town, killing a Marine and wounding three others, according to the military.
The fighting came after about 50 Abu Sayyaf militants ambushed a group of Marines who were escorting members of the Sulu Jaycees and personnel of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office on their way back to the capital town of Jolo from a tree-planting activity at an elementary school at the Parang town proper.
Col. Jose Johriel Cenabre, commander of the 2nd Marine Brigade and Joint Task Force Sulu, said a Marine was killed while three other soldiers were wounded in the attack by the Abu Sayyaf group led by a certain Alhabshy and Sayning at around 10:30 a.m. yesterday.
He said no civilians were hurt in the ambush, as they were safely extricated from the scene by combat troops.
He said pursuing Marines caught up with the Abu Sayyaf attackers in the hinterland of Parang town, triggering an encounter, which the military believes left a number of militants wounded.
“The encounter was part of the pursuit operation following that treacherous attack,†Cenabre said.
The Abu Sayyaf group, according to the military, could be the same faction that government security forces encountered last weekend, killing six of them, in Barangay Mabahay, Talipao town.
Talipao is just across Parang town where the pursuit operation was ongoing, Cenabre said.
Meanwhile, two of the four government militiamen who were wounded in the encounter last weekend have been airlifted to a hospital here.
The two were identified as Niko Minuddin, 22, and Sabor Sasapan, both members of the Barangay Peace Action Team that reinforced the 2nd Marine Battalion Landing Team in the operation against the Abu Sayyaf in Talipao.
The other militiamen were brought to the military trauma hospital in Jolo. – With Jaime Laude