ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 11, 2014) – At least 20 soldiers were wounded in a fierce battle Friday with Abu Sayyaf rebels in the troubled province of Basilan in the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao, officials said.
The fighting erupted in Ungkaya Pukan town and spread to the neighboring Tipo-Tipo town before dawn and continued well into the day after Abu Sayyaf rebels led by Puruji Indama, Nurhassan Jamiri and Basir Kaguran took cover in government schools which were later occupied by troops, according to the military’s Western Mindanao Command.
Marine Captain Maria Rowena Muyuela, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said the fighting left a still undetermined number of rebels dead and wounded. There were no reports of civilian casualties, but an unidentified speedboat which originated from Basilan transported a wounded man to Zamboanga.
Troops were also deployed in Zamboanga’s coastline to guard it against possible entry of the Abu Sayyaf. Patrol boats were also spotted off Zamboanga, just several nautical miles south of Basilan.
Muyuela said the fighting erupted after security forces mounted an operation against the rebel group which has been harassing workers at a government road project there.
She said Indama and Jamiri were also behind the spate of kidnappings for ransom and terror attacks in Basilan and other parts of western Mindanao. “The launching of the combat operation has been coordinated with the AHJAG, CCCH and the PNP in pursuit of the lawless elements, primarily the Abu Sayyaf, which is believed to be responsible in several extortions and kidnapping cases here in the Mindanao area,” Muyuela said.
AHJAG refers to the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group and the CCCH is the abbreviation for the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities which is part of the peace panels of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that ensure the mechanism of the cease-fire agreement is not violated.
Basilan is a known stronghold of the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group which recently signed a peace deal with Manila.
Army Captain Jefferson Mamauag, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, said troops clashed with about 60 Abu Sayyaf rebels. He said Major General Felicito Virgilio Trinidad, the division commander, ordered security forces to intensify the operations against the Abu Sayyaf.
He said two battalions of soldiers were involved in the fighting. “More troops and closed air support have been dispatched to Basilan to pursue the Abu Sayyaf and to pave the way for the normalization of the area,” Mamauag said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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