The Western Mindanao Command said soldiers also recovered two bodies of slain bandits in Barangay Panglayahan, Patikul where troops clashed on Thursday with about 120 ASG gunmen under Radulan Sahiron and Hajan Sawadjaan.
Security forces also battled about 80 more bandits in Barangay Kabbon Takas, also in Patikul, later in the day. The military claimed that 10 more ASG bandits were killed and many others wounded, but soldiers did not recover any cadaver, except for the two bodies.
On Thursday, the military said two soldiers were wounded in the fighting.
Earlier this week, soldiers also clashed in Patikul and killed two bandits, one of them Barak Ingog, who helped facilitate the twin suicide bombings in January of the Jolo Cathedral by an Indonesian pro-Islamic State (IS) couple.
The other slain gunman, Nasser Sawadjaan, was a nephew of Sawadajaan.
Security forces have been conducting massive operations in Sulu since early this year as part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to the military to destroy the Abu Sayyaf, whose leaders pledged allegiance with the IS.
The operations have resulted in the recovery of two Indonesians and a Malaysian fisher held by the ASG on Simisa Island off Sulu. However, two of the hostages — Malaysian Jari Abdullah, eventually died in hospital from a gunshot wound, and Hariadin drowned while escaping the fighting between troops and the bandits.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.