3 soldiers killed in Sayyaf clashes

ZAMBOANGA CITY — At least three government troopers were killed and 12 others wounded in two separate clashes yesterday with the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf in the mountains of Indanan town in Sulu, the military said.

Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) chief Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan confirmed the new encounters in Sulu sought to neutralize the Islamist group.

Sporadic fighting between Marine troopers and Abu Sayyaf bandits began in a village outside Indanan late Friday after the guerrillas ambushed a Marine patrol, said Maj. Gamala Hayudini, Southcom information officer.

Marines in pursuit caught up with an undetermined number of

bandits in the hinterland village of Buwansa yesterday, triggering an encounter that resulted in three Marine soldiers being killed and nine wounded.

A separate clash also erupted yesterday between an Army patrol and another group of Abu Sayyaf gunmen under Umbra Jumdail alias Dr. Abu Pula in the remote barangay of Kandilamon, leaving three soldiers wounded, Hayudini said.

Kandilamon is adjacent to Buwansa and located in the Mt. Tumatangis complex where the Abu Sayyaf rebels were holed up.

Adan ordered reinforcements sent to the two areas, Hayudini said.

The intensified military operation against the Abu Sayyaf came barely a week after police mistakenly announced the capture of top extremist leader Radulan Sahiron to the public. The one-armed Sahiron is wanted on 21 counts of kidnapping and murder and has a P5-million prize on his head. He remains at large.

Hayudini said an undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf fighters were also killed and wounded but the actual figure will not be known until the fighting subsides.

"The fighting is intense," Brig. Gen. Alexander Aleo, chief of the anti-terror Task Force Comet said.

Sulu is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed by the government for numerous deadly bombings and kidnappings in the past.

Aleo said government troops were running after Sahiron, Abu Pula and three of the group’s sub-leaders, namely Albader Parad, Tahil Sali and Hadul Adak, with more or less 100 armed followers.

He said additional reinforcements by two more Marine battalions backed by elements of the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion from the 104th Brigade had been deployed against the group of Abu Pula.

The 3rd Marine Brigade has been concentrating on neutralizing Sahiron’s group, according to Aleo.

"The operations have been ongoing against the group that is holed up in the mountain complex of Mt. Tumatangis," Aleo said.

Police forces have also been alerted in the foothills and lowland areas to block any possible Abu Sayyaf reinforcement.

Sulu provincial director Senior Superintendent Suaibon Jalad said the Provincial Mobile Group, a crew of police combat forces were deployed to thwart diversionary attacks.

Adan ordered the intensified offensive against the Abu Sayyaf after Hilarion del Rosario III, leader of the Abu Sayyaf-linked Rajah Solaiman Movement (RHM), recently warned of looming bomb attacks.

Santos, also known as Ahmad Santos, was captured along with eight others in a village of this port city last Oct. 25.

Apart from Osama bin laden’s al-Qaeda, the military and police say the Abu Sayyaf is also allied with the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been blamed for the Bali bombings in 2002 and last October.

US military counterterrorism training and equipment have been credited with the capture and killing of dozens of Abu Sayyaf members and commanders. — With AP, AFP