2 Abus killed in Sulu clashes

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Two suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed by mortar fire in clashes with government forces in Patikul, Sulu yesterday morning.

The firefight erupted as the military intensified its operations against the bandit group to rescue at least a dozen hostages being held captive by the militants. 

Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado, chief of Joint Task Group Sulu, said the local police confirmed that the two fatalities were members of the Abu Sayyaf.

Arrojado said troopers belonging to the Army’s 35th Infantry Battalion (IB) initially clashed with around 20 bandits at past 7 a.m. in Barangay Latih.

The bandits were reportedly led by a certain Alkam Udjaman.

Arrojado said the bandits retreated, but another group of soldiers engaged them in a firefight that lasted 30 minutes.

The troops, also from the 35th IB, fired rounds of 81mm mortars, killing two militants. 

Gunmen in Samal kidnap identified

The military has identified some of the Abu Sayyaf gunmen holding captive three foreigners and a Filipino woman seized from a resort on Samal Island off Davao del Norte, an official said yesterday.

Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero told journalists that the identities of the suspects were based on videos and documents that the military have verified.

“These are Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf bandits,” Guerrero said.

A video, showing the kidnappers with the hostages – Canadians John Ridsdel, 68, and Robert Hall, 50; Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, and Ridsdel’s Filipina girlfriend Marites Flor – was recently uploaded on social media.

The hostages were seized on Sept. 21 and were reportedly brought to Sulu.

Guerrero said some of the suspects were tagged in previous kidnapping of foreigners, including a German couple last year. – With Jaime Laude