ZAMBOANGA CITY – A senior leader of the Abu Sayyaf was killed in a deadly clashes with army troops in the southern Filipino province of Basilan, Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Tuesday.
Gazmin, speaking to reporters in Manila, said Puruji Indama was among more than 2 dozen Abu Sayyaf casualties that included Mohd Khattab, a Moroccan bomb expert, killed in recent fighting with security forces.
GMA Television also quoted Gazmin, a former army brigadier in Basilan, as saying that the killing of Indama would weaken the Abu Sayyaf operations in the restive province.
Indama was one of the most notorious Abu Sayyaf leaders in Basilan and blamed by authorities to the spate of terrorism and ransom kidnappings there and other parts of Mindanao. He was also linked to the December 5, 2011 kidnapping of Australian adventurer Warren Rodwell in Zamboanga Sibugay province.
While the military claimed killing many Abu Sayyaf in fierce clashes in Tipo-Tipo town, troops only recovered the bodies of Khattab and Ubaida Hapilon, son of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon.
Officials from the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga have not released any information about the progress of the military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.
On Monday, Gov. Mujiv Hataman, of the Muslim autonomous region to which Basilan belongs, has consoled with the families of the slain soldiers.
“We also pray for the recovery of the more than 50 soldiers who were wounded in the same encounter. Our thoughts and prayers are with our soldiers and their families, and in this time of mourning we would like to express our deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones to an act of cowardice committed by a terror group that has brought nothing to our shores but death and grief,” he said.
Hataman said what happened in Basilan was a tragedy, adding, “once again reminds us that there are those who among us who still tread the path of terror, and those who would stop at nothing to breed hatred and suffering among our people.”
“But we will not succumb to their mindless provocation, and we will continue to tread the path of peace as we work harder to bring justice to the people of our region. We will not cease in our efforts towards peace and we condemn this act that betrays our faith and our values – an act to which we will respond with justice swiftly and rightfully served,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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