ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 15, 2012) – A Special Forces soldier was killed and three others were wounded in fierce clashes Wednesday with Abu Sayyaf rebels in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, officials said.
Officials said the fighting erupted in the village of Baiwas in Sumisip town where troops are clearing an area to accommodate the delivery of military supplies to soldiers fighting the Abu Sayyaf.
It was not immediately known if there were Abu Sayyaf casualties, but Capt. Albert Caber, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, said one soldier was confirmed dead and three others were wounded in the fighting.
“One of our soldiers was killed in action and that three others are wounded in the clash with about 35 Abu Sayyaf members headed by Juhaibel Alamsirul,” Caber told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the fighting lasted about 30 minutes. “We still don’t know if there were any casualties from the Abu Sayyaf side, and they usually drag their dead during their escape to hide their casualties,” Caber said.
The fighting also coincided with the arrest of an Abu Sayyaf rebel, Jadatal Bakulan, in Lamitan City also in Basilan province. Bakulan was captured at a joint military and police checkpoint.
Bakulan is facing multiple murders and kidnapping charges in connection to an Abu Sayyaf attack in 2001 that killed more than a dozen rubber farm workers in the province.
The Abu Sayyaf has been linked by Philippine authorities to the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya and largely blamed for the spate of kidnappings and terrorism in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner. With a report from Ely Dumaboc)
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