Soldier killed, 7 others wounded in Basilan

From the Mindanao Examiner (Aug 13, 2023): Soldier killed, 7 others wounded in Basilan (Sensitive Content Warning)

Convoy of military, civilian vehicles carrying town vice mayor ambushed!

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Gunmen killed an army soldier and wounded seven more, including a policeman, in ambush in the town of Ungkaya Pukan in the Muslim province of Basilan in southern Philippines, a security spokesman said Sunday.

The group was in a convoy with the town’s vice mayor Ahmadin Baharim when at least 10 gunmen ambushed them in the village called Ulitan, according to Army Major Andrew Linao, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command.

“Our troops fought back, resulting to a firefight which lasted for five minutes. The firefight killed one of our soldiers and wounded six others and one police personnel,” he said, adding the vice mayor was unscathed from the daring ambush on Saturday afternoon.

“The Western Mindanao Command condemns the inhumane acts of terrorism perpetrated by still unidentified lawless elements against Vice Mayor Ahmadin Baharim of Ungkaya Pukan, and the troops of the 64th Infantry Battalion and police who are members of the Joint Peace and Security Team on Saturday afternoon,” Linao said.

He said the group was in two military and two civilian vehicles when the attack occurred. “The team conducted ocular inspection in the village in connection with the upcoming outreach program on August 18 when the incident happened. This act is a clear manifestation of the perpetrators' disrespect to their local government officials, the military, and their fellow Basileños, hence, we will not stop until these heartless individuals are identified and neutralized,” Linao said, adding, security forces were tracking down the ambushers.

He said ambush occurred at about 3:45 p.m. while a platoon of soldiers and policemen were escorting the politician. “Rest assured that this incident will not be tolerated and we will work doubly to disallow the malefactors to perpetrate such incident,” said.

There was no report of enemy casualties and no group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the area is a known stronghold of pro-ISIS terrorist group Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front, whose leader Ahod Ebrahim, signed a peace deal with the government in 2014.

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