2 killed, 1 wounded as Abu Sayyaf bandits assault civilians in Sulu

From InterAksyon (May 20): 2 killed, 1 wounded as Abu Sayyaf bandits assault civilians in Sulu

Reports reaching Manila indicated that two civilians were killed and a woman was wounded after their boat was assaulted by suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group Tuesday afternoon in waters off Maimbung and Tapul towns in Sulu.

Colonel Alan Arrojado, commander of Joint Task Group Sulu, reported Wednesday that the fatalities were brothers. "The wounded woman was the wife of one of them. We're still trying to get the names of the victims. We have an initial report here that the victims belong to the Gamid clan," Arrojado told InterAksyon.com.

The incident happened at around 3 p.m. near Tiomabal Island.

Arrojado said the victims are residents of Laminusa Island, in Siasi, Sulu. They were traveling on board a motorized boat from the town proper of Maimbung when assaulted.

"The bandits opened fire with automatic weapons that instantaneously killed the two brothers. They spared the woman but she was wounded. The bandits fled after the killings," Arrojado said.

Boatmen who saw the incident only approached the victims to help after the armed men fled. They brought them to the nearest Pata Island.

"The perpetrators were remnants of the Abu Sayyaf Group with some cohorts from an unidentified kidnap-for-ransom group responsible for the foiled kidnapping of Guan Kim Maujon from Laminusa," Arrojado said.

Maujon was abducted on May 6, 2015 but members of the Civilian Volunteer Organization pursued the kidnappers and killed at least 5 of them. The victim was left behind somewhere in Parang town where the police recovered her.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/110863/2-killed-1-wounded-as-abu-sayyaf-bandits-assault-civilians-in-sulu