Government troops clashed Friday with Abu Sayyaf militants
in the southern province
of Sulu that left 23
casualties as security forces continue to battle the notorious jihadist group
being linked with the Islamic State.
The fighting in Patikul town killed at least 6 militants and
wounded 17 government soldiers, but there were no reports on the fate of
kidnapped Malaysian and Indonesian sailors, and Norwegian national Kjartan
Sekkingstad.
President Duterte ordered security forces to destroy the Abu
Sayyaf following Wednesday’s beheading of a Filipino hostage Patrick James
Almodovar after his family failed to pay P1 million ransom.
Duterte said negotiators had paid P50 million ransoms to the
Abu Sayyaf for the safe release of Sekkingstad, but the militants demanded P250
million more. He did not say where the ransom came from.
The Western Mindanao Command said among those killed in the
fighting was Mohammad Said, alias Amah Maas who was an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader
tagged by the military as involved in the beheading of 2 Canadian hostages –
John Ridsdel and Robert Hall – just this year.
Ridsdel and Hall, along with Sekkingstad and Filipino woman
Maritess Flor, were kidnapped in September 2015 on a posh resort in Samal Island
in Davao del Norte province. Flor was released by the Abu Sayyaf in June this
year following a successful negotiation by former Sulu Governor Sakur Tan and
peace adviser Jesus Dureza who were tapped by Duterte to secure the woman.
“Among those killed was Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Mohammad Said,
who has five standing warrants of arrest for murder. Subject was involved in
the abductions of the Samal kidnap victims where two Canadians were beheaded,”
the military said in a statement.
It said operations continue in Sulu and even in Basilan and
both provinces are under the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao .
“Troops continue to conduct pursuit and are currently engaged in a running gun
battle,” it added.
“Our troops are extremely motivated; they know that this
fight against terrorism is greater than themselves. Sa totoo lang, 17 ang
sugatan natin pero 10 dun ay slightly wounded lang, nagpaiwan sila para sumama
uli sa operation at ipagpatuloy ang laban.”
“Ganyan katindi ang pagtingin namin sa misyon na ito lalo na
sa utos ng ating Commander-in- Chief. He gave a specific order. The mission is
clear. Seek and destroy the ASG. By all means that’s what we are doing and we
will not stop until it’s done,” Lieutenant General Mayoralgo Dela Cruz, chief
of the Western Mindanao Command, said in the same statement.
http://mindanaoexaminer.com/military-sayyaf-clash-leaves-23-casualties-in-southern-philippines/
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