ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 16, 2012) – Philippine troops stormed a mountain hideout of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group holding a kidnapped Australian man in the southern province of Basilan and clashed with militants, officials said.
Officials said one soldier was killed and three more wounded in the fierce battle that erupted Thursday in the town of Sumisip that also left a still undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf gunmen dead or wounded.
The raid, carried out by army commandos and an elite police unit and backed by helicopter gunships, targeted terrorist leaders Puruji Indama and Khair Mundos.
Indama is believed to be holding Warren Rodwell, 52, who was kidnapped in December by gunmen from his seaside town in Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay province, about 100 kms east of here.
“Rodwell was not there (in the hideout) and Indama and Mundos were able to escape and bringing along their casaulties. Our operation against the terrorists are going on,” Army Colonel Ricardo Visaya, commander of military forces in Basilan, told Mindanao Examiner.
He said troops have captured the Abu Sayyaf hideout and recovered landmines and improvised explosives left behind by terrorists. Both Indama and Mundos are wanted by authorities for the spate of bombings and kidnappings in the restive region of Mindanao.
Army Liuetenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said security forces mounted the operation following intelligence reports that Indama and Mundos were hiding in the village of Baiwas.
“Government forces launched the operations based on information that the village is the lair of Indama and Mundos, who are all wanted fro series of crimes ranging from murder to kidnapping. The place is also being used by the Abu Sayyaf in manufacturing improvised explosives. The operation was also initiated to effect the arrest warrants of Indama and Mundos,” he said in a separate interview.
Cabangbang said the hideout was littered with improvised bombs. He said the wounded soldiers were airlifted by helicopters to a military hospital in Zamboanga City late on Thursday.
The fate of Rodwell, who was a former of the Australian army, remains unknown. The Australian adventurer has married a Filipina, Miraflor Gutang, 27, in Ipil town last year.
The Abu Sayyaf demanded $2 million ransoms for Rodwell’s safe release, but his wife said they cannot afford to pay and appealed to the terrorists to free the foreigner. (Mindanao Examiner)
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