ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / May 7, 2013) – Two government soldiers and two Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed in a clash in the restive province of Basilan in southern Philippines, officials said on Tuesday.
Four soldiers and three other Abu Sayyaf gunmen were also wounded in the fighting that killed Major Alin Kannung, a former Muslim rebel who joined the military after the signing of the peace accord between Manila and the Moro National Liberation Front in 1996.
Troops recovered the bodies of two slain rebels who were identified as Mingkong and Mardan Sapilin.
Kannung’s group was sent Monday afternoon to distribute livestock to a Muslim community in the town of Al-Barka when they encountered the rebels under Abu Sayya leaders Basher and Musana Jamiriat.
“Troops went to the area to distribute livestock as livelihood assistance for the residents of Al-Barka when they encountered the Abu Sayyaf and a firefight ensued,” Brig. Gen. Daniel Lucero, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Lucero said troops in Basilan were pursuing the Abu Sayyaf, a small but the most notorious rebel group blamed for the spate of bombings, killings and kidnappings in the southern region.
The Western Mindanao Command said Kannung was active in the military campaign against the Abu Sayyaf, blamed by authorities for the spate of killings and kidnappings in the southern region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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