6 soldiers killed in Basilan clash

From the Daily Tribune (Nov 3): 6 soldiers killed in Basilan clash

Six government troops, including a junior officer, were killed after they were ambushed by Abu Sayyaf terrorists while securing a government project in Sumisip, Basilan province, yesterday.

Col. Rolando Bautista, commander of the Army’s 104th Brigade, said elements of the 64th Infantry Battalion (IB) were sent to secure a development project in Sitio Mompol, Barangay Libug, when they were waylaid around 7:30 a.m.

The identities of the slain soldiers were temporarily withheld pending notification of their families.

There was no reported casualty on the side of the Abu Sayyaf.

Bautista said the soldiers managed to engage the attackers, numbering about 20 heavily armed fighters, into a 45-minute heavy exchange of fires.

“My soldiers are securing the Basilan Circumferential Road project to ensure its timely completion before the end of this year. I am saddened by this senseless violence against our soldiers who are helping deliver public services for the people,” he lamented.

Bautista has sent reinforcements to pursue the attackers who are led by Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Radzmi Jannatul.

“I will press criminal charges against these bandits who are harassing the security forces that are deployed to protect the workers of the Saudi-assisted 64-kilometer road project,” he stressed.

Ensign Chester Ramos, public affairs officer of the military’s Joint Task Force Zambasulta (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi), said the troops were on foot patrol when they were fired upon by the heavily armed terrorists.

Ramos said the troops were providing security to the civilian workers of the government project.

Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, Public Affairs Office chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), could not say whether the Basilan ambushed staged by the Abu Sayyaf group was a diversionary tactic to aid terrorists in Sulu where an all-out military offensive is ongoing.

“I don’t want to speculate but we know that some of them are interrelated,” he stressed.

Relatedly,  two Abu Sayyaf encampments were seized yesterday by government security forces following Saturday’s air strike in Sulu.

Col. Allan Arrojado, Joint Task Group Sulu commander, said the Abu Sayyaf terrorists are now on the run after the air assault.

“At least now, they are on the run because we have leads,” he added.

“The enemies are now much afraid because they can be seen (from air assault),” the military official stressed.

Arrojado dispatched MG520 attack helicopters last Saturday to provide close air support to the ground troops.

He said pursuing government troops yesterday morning seized two encampments in Patikul town used by the Abu Sayyaf while evading the all-out law enforcement operations.

Arrojado added the government forces are now focused on the vicinity of Mt. Sinumaan in tracking down the Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

“So, right now we are running after them…along the mountain ranges of Mt Sinumaan…that is where our concentration is,” he said.

Aside from the air strike, two separate clashes were reported on Saturday – the first contact with the Abu Sayyaf terrorists since the military and police launched all-out law enforcement operations in Sulu to free two German hostages –Stefan Viktor Okonek, 71, and Herike Diesen, 55.

Arrojado said that there were intelligence reports about casualties sustained by the Abu Sayyaf group but were not yet validated.

The targeted ASG band was that of Hatib Sawadjaan, who was tagged in the six-month captivity of the two Germans, who were released last Oct. 17 after reportedly paying P250 million ransom.

The government launched the all-out offensives hours before the actual release of Okonek and Diesen.

Currently, the ASG still holds 10 hostages, including the two European birdwatchers snatched in February 2012 in Tawi-Tawi and a Japanese.
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/6-soldiers-killed-in-basilan-clash