BASILAN PROVINCE – Government forces captured an Abu Sayyaf encampment following a barrage of artillery fire Sunday on a hinterland village in the restive province of Basilan in southern Philippines.
Troops also recovered four automatic weapons left behind by militants in the town of Ungkaya Pukan. The encampment was believed under mid-level commander Puruji Indama. Military operations were continuing in the province, just 30 minutes by boat from the port city of Zamboanga.
The military insisted it killed an undetermined number of militants before taking their camp, but troops had not recovered a single body of slain Abu Sayyaf fighter.
On Friday, militants freed one of their 6 Vietnamese hostages, Hoang Vo, 28, who was recovered by soldiers near Sumisip town.
Vo, a native of Nghệ An province, had a wound on his back and was immediately taken to hospital, according to the military. Militants hijacked the Vietnamese cargo ship in November last year and seized 6 crewmen, including its captain. The Abu Sayyaf is also holding over a dozen hostages in the troubled Muslim autonomous region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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