Usman, 4 terrorists escape security troops

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines – Fugitive terrorist Abdul Basit Usman and his four Indonesian cohorts were able to escape three days before government troops overran a camp of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Shariff Saidona last Saturday.

“He was already out of the area three days before soldiers arrived to occupy the camp,” a barangay official said yesterday.

Usman’s Indonesian companions, whom local community elders identified as Suharduno, Hartini, Yudyuharto and Wiranduno, were seen carrying big bags believed to contain materials for fabrication of improvised explosives.

Usman and the four Indonesians fled to the Liguasan Delta in Maguindanao.

“Teng (Usman) and his Indonesian companions managed to escape from Shariff Saidona last March 5. When the soldiers arrived on March 7, they were already out of the area,” said a relative who asked not to be identified.

An Army captain and three soldiers were killed in the firefight last Saturday against the BIFF.

Meanwhile, two Marines were killed while two others were wounded as government forces foiled on Tuesday an attempt by the BIFF to attack a village in Mamasapano and Shariff Saidona towns.

Local officials said the bungled plan of the BIFF to harass civilians and encircle an evacuation site in the area was meant to avenge the deaths of more than 40 rebels killed in military offensives that started Feb. 28.

The slain soldiers were initially identified as Sgt. Francis Flores and one Cpl. Mias of the 8th Marine Battalion. Two other Marines, Sgt. Tejada and Pfc. Mandegoria, were wounded in the ensuing encounters.

Local officials confirmed six BIFF rebels were also killed.

“Five BIFF members were also seriously wounded in the skirmishes,” one local official said.

A total of six soldiers have died since the military launched an “all-out offensive” against the BIFF last February.  – With Alexis Romero