PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 18, 2012) – Government troops repulsed an attack by Abu Sayyaf rebels on a hinterland detachment in the restive southern Philippine province of Basilan, officials said Tuesday.
Officials said the detachment was former Abu Sayyaf encampment captured by soldiers in the village of Upper Cabengbeng in Sumisip town.
The rebels, headed by Commander Botong, attacked the post on Monday, sparking a fire fight, according to Capt. Albert Caber, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division.
He said troops fired mortar rockets on fleeing Abu Sayyaf fighters, but there were no immediate reports of enemy casualties.
“The army post had been attacked by the Abu Sayyaf at least 5 times over the past three months. Apparently, the Abu Sayyaf wants to regain possession of the detachment that will again serve as their observation post to provide them great tactical advantage in the area against government troops,” he told regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Maj. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, the regional army commander, said more troops were sent to the town to protect civilians from threats of Abu Sayyaf attacks. “The army post was established in the village to protect the civilians from harm, violent activities and criminality perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf,” he said in a separate statement.
Cruz said: “The successful defense of the detachment by our soldiers is a pledge that the army is sincere in protecting the civilian community against lawless elements.”
Abu Sayyaf rebels had previously attacked and killed rubber farm workers in Sumisip town where the Tumahubong Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Integrated Development Cooperative Inc. is located.
The rebels, blamed by police and military to the spate of terrorism and kidnappings, are extorting money from the cooperative to which the farmers belong. (Mindanao Examiner)
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