ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 29, 2012) – Former Moro National Liberation Front rebels on Monday accused the Philippine military of attacking its members in the southern province of Sulu, sparking a fierce gun battle that left at least 17 soldiers dead and wounded.
The MNLF said marine soldiers attacked its members on a village in Patikul town who were only harvesting coconuts.
But the Western Mindanao Command insisted that troops clashed with Abu Sayyaf militants under Radullan Sahiron and Tahir Sali, an allegation strongly denied by the MNLF, which signed a peace accord with Manila in 1996.
Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, a military spokesman, said a team of marines were patrolling the town of Patikul following intelligence reports about the presence of kidnap victims when the fighting occurred.
“The marine company was conducting patrol to verify reports of the presence of kidnap victims in the area. The encounter killed a total of four soldiers and wounded 13 more,” he said.
He said 2 gunmen were also killed in the fighting.
Cabangbang did not release the identities of the kidnap victims reported in Patikul, but among those believed to be in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf are Australian adventurer Warren Rodwell, 57, who was kidnapped in December last year from his seaside home in the town of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay province.
And also two European wildlife photographers Ewold Horn, 52, from Holland; and Lorenzo Vinciguerre, 47, from Switzerland, who were also kidnapped earlier this year in Tawi-Tawi province. The Abu Sayyaf is still holding a Japanese man and three Filipinos in Sulu.
Philippine authorities have imposed a news blackout on the kidnappings of the foreigners, although there were reports that negotiations for the safe release of Rodwell and the other foreigners are going on.
In September, the Abu Sayyaf freed a kidnapped Chinese man Jian Luo, 48, in Zamboanga City after his family paid some P5 million ransoms. His compatriot Jampong Lin-Yuankai, 38, was later rescued following a gun battle in a village also in Zamboanga City.
The two men- who are natives of Guangdong province and are engaged in buying and selling of manganese and other minerals – were kidnapped by followers of Abu Sayyaf leader Khair Mundos in Kabasalan town near where Rodwell was snatched by five men disguised as policemen.
Mundos is wanted both by the Philippine and US authorities for his role in the transfer of al-Qaeda funds to the Abu Sayyaf which had been used to carry out terror attacks in Mindanao and other parts of the country.
According to the US Rewards for Justice Program, Mundos is a key leader and financier of the Abu Sayyaf. He was arrested in May 2004 and confessed to having arranged the transfer of funds from al-Qaeda to Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafy Janjalani. But in February 2007, Mundos escaped from the Kidapawan Provincial Jail in North Cotabato province.
It was unknown whether Mundos was also involved in Rodwell kidnapping. The former Australian soldier was last reported being held by the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan province near Sulu. (Mindanao Examiner)
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