ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Philippine military on Saturday awarded medals to government soldiers who were wounded in a recent clash with Abu Sayyaf rebels in the restive province of Basilan just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga, officials said.
Officials said Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, chief of the Western Mindanao Command; and Rear Admiral Reynaldo Yoma, commander of an anti-terror joint task force, led the awarding of the medals held at a military hospital here.
Officials said a total of 7 soldiers were wounded in the battle December 3 with Abu Sayyaf that also left 11 rebel casualties in Tipo-Tipo town.
Ensign Ian Chester Ramos, a military spokesman, said one the slain rebel had been identified as Abdullah Kalitot alias Hidzran.
Marine Captain Maria Rowena Muyuela, of the Western Mindanao Command, said security forces were pursuing Abu Sayyaf leaders, Puruji Indama and Nurhasan Jamiri, in Tipo-Tipo town when troops encountered the rebels and killing 3 of them and wounding 8 more.
According to Capt. Franco Salvador Suelto, of the 1st Infantry Division, troops were scouring the town’s hinterlands where the group of Indama and Jamiri fled. He said Brig. Gen. Gerardo Barrientos, the regional army commander, ordered troops to intensify the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf in the province. (Mindanao Examiner)
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