3 killed, 6 hurt in Abu ambush

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines  – Two government militiamen and a civilian were killed while six others were wounded in an ambush staged by Abu Sayyaf militants in Sumisip, Basilan last Thursday afternoon, the military said.

Lt. Col. Randolf Cabangbang, spokesman of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command, said the members of the special civilian active auxiliary were cruising Barangay Sapah Bulak in Sumisip town on motorcycles when they were waylaid.

Cabangbang said the victims had come from the rubber plantation of the Tumahubong Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Integrated Development Cooperative they were working in and were on their way home in nearby Tipo-Tipo town when they were ambushed.

The attackers were identified as Ahmad Aliman, Imair Wakil, Akbar Tampuri, and Madi Umangkat, who belong to the Abu Sayyaf group res-ponsible for the previous attacks on other rubber plantation workers. – Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude