Among those killed in Saturday ambush in the town of Patikul was a lieutenant and the military’s Western Mindanao Command insisted that many Abu Sayyaf were also killed in the ensuing gun battle, although no bodies had been recovered by troops.
It was not immediately known if there were members of the Moro National Liberation Front who took part in the attack.
The soldiers were on a test mission when gunmen ambushed them. Many of those who died were not even familiar with the terrain in Sulu, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.
The ambush occurred even when security officials claimed the numbers of Abu Sayyaf fighters have dwindled over the years because of government offensives. But this rhetorical statement is far from the truth.
The military failed in its campaign to rid the province of Abu Sayyaf because of lack of support from the civilians, who, for so many decades, do not trust soldiers, who had been previously accused of human rights violations, among others.
It was unknown if the Armed Forces of the Philippines would order an investigation into the ambush of the soldiers who were under Col. Jose Joriel Cenabre, commander of military forces in Sulu, to determine whether there were lapses in the security operation that led to the deaths of the marines.
In 2011, Abu Sayyaf and Moro rebels also killed 19 soldiers who were sent in a test mission in Basilan province. The soldiers were ambushed in the town of Al-Barka. Four military commanders who were involved in the operation had been criminally charged by the military. (Mindanao Examiner)
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