At least two more members of the Abu Sayyaf were reported killed Sunday, bringing to 14 the number of fatalities stemming from the fighting in Sulu province.
In a radio interview, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brig. Gen. Domingo Tutaan Jr. said they received an update Sunday that seven bandits had been killed.
"Yung initial report, apat, naging lima. This morning the AFP received a report that seven of these lawless elements had been killed," he said in an interview on dzBB radio.
He said the military suffered seven casualties, including an officer and six enlisted men.
In the meantime, he said the efforts to pursue the bandits will continue.
"Efforts are still undergoing to pursue the Abu Sayyaf elements," he said.
But he also said the military's operation will be "discerning" so that "civilians won't be caught in the crossfire."
Earlier, Western Mindanao Command spokesman Col. Rodrigo Gregorio said members of the Marines chanced on a group of Abu Sayyaf bandits early Saturday.
Gregorio said two of the four slain Abu Sayyaf bandits were identified as Commander Apong Idol, a mid-level bandit leader, and Kausar Sawadjaan.
A report on government-run Philippine News Agency said the operation had sought to rescue Casilda Villarasa, 41, the wife of a Marine.
The bandits abducted Casilda last May 8 in Barangay Asturia in Jolo, Sulu. Casilda, is a medical technologist at the Integrated Provincial Health Office in Jolo.
She was with her nine-year-old daughter when the bandits seized her. Her daughter managed to run away.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/310146/news/regions/2-more-sayyaf-bandits-killed-sulu-fighting-death-toll-rises-to-14-military
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