25 soldiers, 27 rebels dead in Sulu fighting
Fifty-two people – 25 soldiers and 27 rebels – have died in clashes between government troops and guerillas of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.
Seventeen soldiers and an unspecified number of rebels were wounded in the fighting, which started after Army soldiers launched an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf in Indanan town on Tuesday.
The MNLF signed a peace treaty with the Ramos administration on
Officials of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) confirmed the troops in Sulu had encountered MNLF fighters.
The 27 killed in the fighting wore fatigue uniforms bearing MNLF patches, added the military officials, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.
Private 1st Class Abdulhari Bittong of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion, a former MNLF rebel who was wounded in an ambush in Parang town Wednesday, said he recognized the guerrillas who attacked them in Parang town as his former comrades.
“They were already positioning for ambush and they did not identify themselves as MNLF despite the ceasefire,” he said.
The MNLF fighters only withdrew after their commander, a certain Jehili was killed in fighting in Barangay Sampunay last Wednesday, he added.
Bittong, a native of Parang town, was wounded on the left foot and is now confined at Camp Navarro General Hospital in Cagayan de Oro City.
At Camp Aguinaldo, Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, Armed Forces public information chief, said an additional Army battalion would be sent as reinforcement after government troops suffered 26 casualties in separate clashes in two days.
“The 33rd Infantry Battalion would be reconsolidated and augmented by another Army battalion,” he said.
A battalion consists of around 500 officers and men.
There are four Marine battalions, two Army infantry battalions, a Scout Ranger battalion and a Special Forces battalion already stationed in Sulu.
AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said in a telephone interview that the Abu Sayyaf band encountered by government troops were led by terrorist leaders Albader Parad, Dr. Abu Pala and Radullan Sahiron.
During the first encounter in Indanan, it was believed that two of the slain terrorists were Sahiron’s son and his close aide Commander Jehili, he added.
Esperon said there were indications that Jemaah Islamiyah bomb experts Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who had sought refuge with the Abu Sayyaf, were among the terrorists that fought government troops.
Two Army companies are running after the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu, he added.
Esperon said troops, who have been hunting down the Abu Sayyaf since Aug. 2, clashed with the terrorist band last Tuesday.
“The fact that we encountered them successively tells you that indeed we are gaining ground against them, that we are able to hit them because we have the cooperation of the civilian population who are now giving us info about the location of the Abu Sayyaf Group,” he said.
Esperon said that although the troops outnumber the Abu Sayyaf, their knowledge of the terrain has led to a high casualty rate for the military.
“Our offensive operations against the Abu Sayyaf will continue in Sulu and we have sufficient forces to pursue this conduct of operations,” he said.
The Abu Sayyaf’s armed strength has gone down from 400 to around 370 men, Esperon said.
On Thursday night, military aircraft started bombing MNLF and Abu Sayyaf positions in the mountains of Maimbung, Sulu, according to military and civilian officials.
“The heavy bombardment in Maimbung was heard in Jolo, said presidential assistant for Sulu Amilbahar Amilasan.
Authorities have yet to determine the number of civilians possibly displaced as a result of the military offensive, Amilasan said.
Late Thursday, the military reported 19 soldiers killed – nine in an ambush and 10 in a clash between troops and the Abu Sayyaf – and 12 others wounded.
Maj. Eugene Batara, Westmincom spokesman, said details of how six more soldiers died were not clear, but that one was wounded in the ambush and died later.
Others were killed in the running battle, he added.
In Thursday’s first attack, the rebels killed nine soldiers and took six M-16 rifles and a two-way radio from soldiers of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion before fleeing to an area near the boundary of Indanan and Maimbung towns.
Later, troops from the same unit pursuing the MNLF and Abu Sayyaf fighters stumbled onto a bigger rebel band nearby that was led by Abu Sayyaf commanders Albader Parad and Dr. Abu Pula, sparking a second encounter, according to Col. Mark Supnet of the 104th Army brigade on Jolo.
Pockets of fighting continued into the night.
Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan said he has instructed the mayors of Maimbung and Indanan towns to prepare evacuation centers for residents who may flee due to the conflict.
Batara said the earlier ambush was not an indication that the Abu Sayyaf had regained strength following setbacks dealt by a massive US-backed offensive last year that led to the killing of its top two leaders.
“They’ve been attacking our soldiers when they’re not in battle mode,” he said. “They could not fight frontally. They’re treacherous.”
The military estimates that the Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for several deadly bombings and high-profile ransom kidnappings, has about 300-400 guerrillas, down from more than 1,000 during its heyday in early 2000.
There were no reports of new clashes yesterday.
Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Gordon said the ambush and killing of 20 soldiers n Sulu raises concerns about the situation in Mindanao today.
“Within just one month, the nation’s elite troops have twice suffered heavily at the hands of the forces of terror,” he said. “Last July 10, 14 of our Marines were similarly ambushed and killed in Basilan.
“While we offer our sympathies to the families of the fallen, we have to look more closely into why our troops are suffering this high level of casualties.
“I believe Congress and the public deserve to know more about the real situation in the South so that appropriate adjustments – whether in policy or program or materiel or logistics – can be made, and better support to our troops can be provided.”
Gordon said President Arroyo and leaders of Congress must order the AFP high command and commanders in the field to hold a top-level briefing on the situation in Mindanao.
“We have to know how our policy is really faring in Mindanao and Sulu, the adequacy of support for our troops, the quality of intelligence they are receiving, the state of troop morale, and the general climate for peace and order in the affected areas,” he said.
“It is also fitting to inquire into how military action against the terrorist bands can be matched by socio-economic and civic action to truly alleviate conditions in the South, so that more among our Muslim brothers can be brought within the protection of the State,” he said.
“This is not a question of assigning blame or pointing fingers. This is just a matter of how we can all pull together for the improvement of the situation in the South.” – with James Mananghaya, Marvin Sy, AP
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