In the ongoing operations against the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
bandits in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan, a total of 24 brigands have been been killed
since April 9.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brig.
Gen. Restituto Padilla in a Tuesday briefing said the figures came from Western
Mindanao Command head Lt. Gen. Mayoralgo Dela Cruz.
Padilla said that all slain bandits were identified by
military and police units involved in the operations in Basilan.
He added that it was also possible that many of the 20 ASG
earlier wounded in the fight had succumbed to their injuries, adding to the
bandits death toll.
Included in the ASG toll was Moroccan terrorist Mohammad
Khatttab, an improvised explosive device expert and supposedly a conduit of a
"Middle East international terrorist
group".
The former's body was also recovered by ground units.
As this develops, ASG positions in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan were
repeatedly shelled in an effort to soften the bandits and prevent them from
resisting troops out to flush them.
"Artillery fire (is) meant to suppress possible
resistance that may be on the ground in those areas," the AFP spokesperson
said.
Earlier, both Padilla and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin
said ASG leader Furuji Indama, who was among the 20 bandits critically wounded
in the April 9 battle, was among the bandits who succumbed to their wounds.
But this was corrected as information received from the
ground indicated that the bandit leader is still alive despite being critically
wounded.
Padilla declined to comment on claims that members of the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front leaked details of the April 9 operations to the
ASG while coordinating with the MILF, adding that he had no data on the matter.
Eighteen soldiers and 53 others were wounded in the more
than nine-hour clash between military units and ASG bandits in Barangay
Baguidan, Tipo-Tipo last April 9.
The encounter started 7:55 a.m. and lasted until 5: 30 p.m.
There was also an ASG attempt to behead two of the slain
soldiers but these were prevented by covering fire of surviving troops, Padilla
said.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=875658
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