Troops storm Abu camp, kill 3 bandits

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Three suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed in an attack by government security forces that also resulted in the wounding of seven soldiers and eight Abus in Basilan yesterday morning. 

Reports from the military said members of Task Group Basilan, led by Col. Rolando Joselito Bautista, discovered a camp occupied by the followers of Abu Sayyaf leaders Furuji Indama and Nurhassan Jamiri in Tipo-Tipo town at dawn.

Bautista, in a report to Rear Admiral Reynaldo Yoma, chief of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao, said his men managed to penetrate the camp in Barangay Silangkum at around 6: 55 a.m. 

Bautista said a firefight ensued for almost an hour. He said the bandits retreated toward the jungle.

Army Capt. Ma. Rowena Muyuela, spokesperson for the Western Mindanao Command, said the seven wounded soldiers were airlifted to a military hospital here for treatment.

Muyuela said the soldiers were pursuing the bandits. The military has been hunting the groups of Indama and Jamiri, two of Abu Sayyaf’s most wanted leaders, in Basilan.

The groups were believed responsible for a series of kidnappings and bombings in the province.

4 soldiers slain in Bukidnon clash

Meanwhile, in Bukidnon, four soldiers and two suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas were killed in an encounter in San Fernando town Wednesday.

Reports from the Army’s 10th Infantry Division said the rebels detonated two improvised explosive devices near a government road project in Barangay Magkalungkay at around 5 a.m.

The explosions were followed by a 30-minute firefight between the rebels and the soldiers who were helping secure a road project in the area.

Three soldiers were also wounded in the firefight.

Lt. Col. Zosimo Oliveros, commander of the 68th Infantry Battalion, said they recovered the bodies of two dead rebels, one of them a woman, at the site.

The identities of the slain soldiers were withheld until after their families are notified.

Oliveros said the soldiers also found an M16 Armalite and backpacks containing food and personal belongings.

He said about 80 rebels staged the attack.

Oliveros said pursuit operations were ongoing as of yesterday. – With Gerry Lee-Gorit, Edit Regalado, Jaime Laude