3 Abu Sayyaf bandits slain in Sulu encounters

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Three suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed while five Army troopers were wounded in two clashes that broke out in the hinterlands of Patikul in Sulu on Saturday.

Troopers of the Army’s 21st Infantry Battalion (IB) led by Lt. Col. Gerald Monfort exchanged fire with the followers of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Ellam Nasirin in Sitio Tubig Paliya, Barangay Danag at around 10:44 a.m.

The firefight lasted one hour and resulted in the death of three bandits, according to Maj. Arvin John Encinas, spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom).

As the bandits were fleeing, they encountered another troop from the 21st IB that was conducting a blocking operation in an adjcent barangay.

When the firefight ended, the soldiers recovered the body of a bandit at the scene of the firefight.

The slain bandit was among a group of terrorists seen in earlier photographs flashing a hand sign of an Islamic terror group, and brandishing firearms, the military said.

The soldiers recovered a rifle, phones, ammunition, food packs, war materials, documents and personal belongings from the slain bandit, Monfort said.

Brig. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, chief of the Army’s 1101st Infantry Brigade, said the fleeing bandits took with them the remains of their two comrades.

“Reports from the ground said several more bandits were wounded in the clashes, ” Nafarrete said, adding that a tracking operation for the fleeing terrorists was ongoing.

The wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital in Sulu for treatement.

The military has yet to confirm if the bandits that the troopers encountered were the same men who are holding captive five Indonesian fishermen seized in the waters of Sabah, Malaysia five months ago.

Authorities gave the assurance that it continuously employing “reasonable amount of combat power” to pressure and flush the bandits out of Sulu.

“We will sustain our security operations against the terrorists until we attain peace in Sulu and other parts of the Westmincom area of operation,” Westmincom chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said.