Sayyaf ambush leaves 4 casualties in restive Basilan province – The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Abu Sayyaf militants ambushed a group of government workers, killing two of them and wounding two others in Lamitan City in the restive Muslim province of Basilan, police said Thursday.

Police said all of the casualties are employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways and have identified the dead as Ahzhar Dakis and Basit Daimun while the wounded were Abdul Sarabin and Mitoy Estajal.

It said the militants strafed the victims in the village of Baas while they were travelling on a truck on the way to work. The ambushers escaped after the attack. The motive of the ambush is still unknown, but the Abu Sayyaf has been demanding money from the DPWH.

Police said it is investigating the ambush which occurred while the whole of southern Philippines is under martial rule. The military has not released any statement on why it failed to prevent the attack.

Just recently, police captured a notorious Abu Sayyaf bomber Abdulham Ataram in Zamboanga City after escaping military operations in Basilan. Ataram is being linked to the October 2007 bombing in Kidapawan City and a string of criminal charges in Basilan, one of 5 provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

He was also accused of kidnapping and beheading over a dozen Christian coconut farmers in Basilan in June 2001. Police said the militant is also a member of the Abu Sayyaf’s Special Operations Group, blamed for the spate of bombings in the southern region. It was unknown how Ataram managed to flee Basilan and hid in Zamboanga. (Mindanao Examiner)

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