THREE of the nine Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits killed in Friday’s clash in Talipao, Sulu, were identified by the military on Saturday.
Col. Allan Arrojado, Joint Task Group (JTG) Sulu commander, identified two of the bandit fatalities as Hamer Absara and Beting Jakka.
The latter was the brother in law of ASG leader Radullon Sahiron.
Hairullah Asbang, an Abu Sayyaf subcommander, was allegedly killed after being hit by shots fired by an attacking military aircraft, Arrojado said.
No ASG bodies were recovered yet but the deaths were confirmed by military intelligence agents.
The death toll for the Sulu clash has reached 14, including the five soldiers killed in the encounter.
Arrojado said that 26 military personnel were wounded, while 30 were hurt in the Abu Sayyaf side.
Soldiers engaged about 300 bandits, led by Sahiron in a series of clashes that lasted for five hours.
Maj. Edilberto Aramponi, JTG Sulu’s civil-military operations officer, said the first clash in Barangay Bud Bunga started at 1:50 p.m. and another broke out 4:30 p.m.
Some 150 troops from the Army’s Third Scout Ranger Battalion, who engaged the Abu Sayyaf bandits twice used grenade launchers, he added.
“There were other units present in the operation like the 35th Infantry Battalion and the Marines but it was the Scout Rangers who bore the brunt of the fighting,” Aramponi said in Filipino.
He added that all military fatalities are all Scout Rangers.
Government forces have been hunting the Abu Sayyaf on the island since the two German captives were released on October 17. But until Friday, they had found only several abandoned camps, Arrojado said.
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