A trooper from the 18th Infantry Battalion was killed while
eight of his companions were wounded in a landmine attack perpetrated by Abu
Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits in the borders of Tipo-Tipo and Al-Barka towns,
Basilan Tuesday morning.
All of the government casualties were aboard a KM-450
military truck, on their way to market, when the blast took place at 8:05 a.m.
Lt. Col. John Paolo Perez, 18th Infantry Battalion
commander, said the incident took place at the vicinity of Barangays Magkawa,
Albarka and Tipo-Tipo Proper, Tipo-Tipo.
Initially, nine troopers were reported wounded, three of
them seriously.
He added that the landmine seems to command detonated as it
exploded while the KM-450 was passing by, showering its occupants with shrapnel.
However, one of the seriously hurt trooper expired before
reaching the nearest medical facility, Perez said.
Pursuit operations are now ongoing as of this posting.
Around seven to 10 ASG bandits were believed to have laid
the explosive.
Responding government troopers engaged the brigands in a
brief firefight, scattering the ASGs and leading to the recovery of some of the
group's equipment.
Perez did not specify the exact equipment recovered but said
that some of the shrapnel they have recovered seems similar to the ones they
recovered in Barangay Tuburan, Mohammad Ajul town, Basilan last May 17.
"The IEDs (improvised explosive devices) we recovered
there appears to be made by a Malaysian member of the Jemaah Islamiyah,"
he said.
Around 76 IEDs were recovered in that operation.
The 18th Infantry Battalion commander also said that the
bandits passed some two kilometers from a Moro Islamic Liberation Front area
but stressed that the ASGs did not enter the place.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=772994
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