2 Sayyaf militants killed in Sulu fighting

From the Mindanao Examiner (May 17): 2 Sayyaf militants killed in Sulu fighting

Two Abu Sayyaf militants were killed in a brief clash Wednesday in the southern Filipino province of Sulu, the military said.

Army Captain Jo-ann Petinglay, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command, said the fighting erupted in Sandah village in the town of Patikul, a known lair of the notorious group allied with the Islamic State.

She said troops from the 10th Infantry Battalion recovered the bodies of the slain militants, including three M16 automatic rifles. Petinglay, quoting a report from Brigadier General Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Joint Task Force Sulu, said: “We were also able to recover the remains of the two Abu Sayyaf bandits who are still yet to be identified. Fortunately, no one was hurt from among our soldiers.”

Petinglay said two militants – Musa Jamil Alsid, 19, and Mohammad Waddang Udding, 20, – also surrendered on Tuesday to the 2nd Special Forces Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Gaspar Panopio in Talipao town. They turned over one M16 automatic rifle to the military. “Both Alsid and Udding are undergoing custodial debriefing,” she said.

Security forces are battling Abu Sayyaf militants in Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the Muslim autonomous region. The group is still holding about 2 dozen hostages, mostly foreign seamen kidnapped at sea in Basilan and Sabah in Malaysia.

http://mindanaoexaminer.com/2-sayyaf-militants-killed-in-sulu-fighting/