ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 26, 2012) – At least 11 people were killed in fierce clashes Thursday between army soldiers and Abu Sayyaf militants in the troubled province of Basilan in the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao, officials said.
Officials said the fighting erupted at around 7.30 a.m. in the hinterland village of Cabengbeng in Sumisip town where 5 soldiers were also wounded.
It was the second clash in the area since Wednesday between army rangers and militants, said Army Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command.
“Seven of our brave soldiers were killed, and at least four on the Abu Sayyaf side. We will not stop our operation against the Abu Sayyaf to bring peace in Basilan,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
Cabangbang said the militants were also behind deadly attacks on civilians and soldiers in the town the past weeks.
He said among those who led the Abu Sayyaf in the fighting was a former official of a rubber plantation cooperative – Wyms Wakil – who was fired last year from his job as a supervisor for a still unknown reason.
Wakil was implicated in 16 killings, mostly rubber plantation workers, in the last 9 months, according to Cabangbang.
“Wakil, who joined the Abu Sayyaf after being fired from his job, led attacks against these innocent farm workers and 16 of them were killed and about three more dozens are wounded in attacks the past nine months,” he said.
Cabangbang said helicopter gunships were sent to the province to provide air cover to ground troops pursuing the Abu Sayyaf group.
On Wednesday, soldiers fought with Abu Sayyaf gunmen for about 10 minutes and the clash stopped after the militants, numbering about 20, broke into smaller groups and fled to the hinterlands.
Philippine authorities have linked the Abu Sayyaf to both the Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya terrorist groups, and responsible for many atrocities and kidnappings for ransom in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
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