ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 16, 2014) – Five Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed following a firefight with government soldiers in Patikul town in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, officials announced on Wednesday.
Officials said the rebels were onboard a vehicle when they opened fire on marines manning a checkpoint in the village of Bangkal on the night of April 13. The soldiers pursued the attackers and engaged them in a running gunbattle that left 5 rebels dead.
“According to an official report received from the ground units, the incident transpired when the Marine troops conducting checkpoint signaled and tried to stop the approaching vehicle (Tamaraw FX), but instead, they were fired upon by the passengers aboard said vehicle. The troops then immediately reacted and retaliated while the vehicle speeds up.”
“The marines immediately conducted pursuit operation which led them to recover the vehicle and one cadaver which was positively identified as an Abu Sayyaf member, and it was also disclosed that the other four Abu Sayyafs were seriously wounded and later died in an undisclosed area,” said Captain Maria Rowena Muyuela, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command.
She said the vehicle and the cadaver were handed over to the local municipal government and police authorities.
Muyuela said the operations against the Abu Sayyaf are continuing in Sulu and she also appealed to the public to help in the campaign against kidnappings and terrorism by providing authorities with information about lawless elements or suspicious persons in their communities.
“The military is continuously intensifying efforts to address the threats posed by the Abu Sayyaf in the Sulu province,” she said.
Just recently, a 17-year old member of the Abu Sayyaf, Jelam Elah alias Jihad and Jers, was also arrested at a marine checkpoint in the village of Bungkaung in Patikul town following a tip off from local villagers.
Elah, a resident of Budkaha in the town’s Maligay village, was travelling on a motorcycle when he was stopped at the checkpoint. During interrogation, Elah admitted to be a member of the so-called Lucky 9 group under Abu Sayyaf leader Ninok Sapari, whose members are mostly young men, tagged as behind the recent kidnappings in the province and the attacks on military targets in Patikul. (Mindanao Examiner)
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