ZAMBOANGA CITY – Two Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines as police and military authorities tightened security in the troubled Muslim region this holy week, officials said Friday.
Capt. Maria Rowena Muyuela, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command, said soldiers recovered the bodies of the slain rebels, including their weapons, in the village of Danag in Patikul town.
She said troops clashed with about 80 rebels under Hairulah Asbang, one of the most notorious leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, and that no soldiers were either killed or wounded in the fighting.
“Military troops recovered two high-powered firearms and the bodies of the two dead Abu Sayyaf members,” Muyuela said, adding a still undetermined number of gunmen were also wounded in the clash.
It was unknown if Asbang was among the injured, but troops were dispatched April 3 to pursue the fleeing gunmen.
“Military and police forces launched pursuit operations against the Abu Sayyaf which is responsible for the series of atrocities in the region,” Muyuela said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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