Troops kill 2 Sayyafs in fresh ops in Sulu

SULU – Army soldiers killed 2 Abu Sayyaf fighters in a clash Saturday in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, officials said.

Officials said the fighting occurred in the township of Patikul, a known stronghold of the pro-ISIS group. Other militants managed to escape the army operation, but troops were pursuing them.

Members of the 3^rd and 5^th Scout Ranger Battalions recovered the bodies of the militants, including their weapons, according to Brig. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of both the 11^th Infantry Division and anti-terror Joint Task Force Sulu.

He said the slain terrorists were followers of Mundi Sawadjaan, who is being linked to the recent twin suicide bombings in the capital town of Jolo that killed and wounded dozens of soldiers and civilians.

“We will employ all military assets to destroy the fleeing Abu Sayyaf members who are perpetrators of the Jolo bombings,” Gonzales said, adding he ordered all units under him to track down Sawadjaan and his cohorts.

Brig. Gen. Ignatius Patrimonio, commander of the 1102^nd Infantry Brigade, said there will be no let-up in the operation until Sawadjaan’s group is neutralized.

“The 1102^nd Infantry Brigade, under the direction of the Joint Task Force Sulu, will continue to conduct sustained military operations to pursue the perpetrators of the twin bombings. There will be no let-up until we have neutralized the terror group of Mundi Sawadjaan,” he said.

Both Gonzales and Patrimonio did not say if there were military casualties.

Security forces also launched a massive hunt for 2 Indonesian and a Filipino member of the Abu Sayyaf who are planning attacks in Zamboanga Peninsula.

Mayor Beng Climaco released the photos of the terrorists and warned the public to keep on the lookout for the trio.

She said the government has offered a P3 million reward for the capture of the Indonesian Andi Baso and his female partner Reski Fantasya; and Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Mundi Sawadjaan, who is being linked to the recent twin suicide bombings in Jolo town in the neighboring province of Sulu.

“Authorities warn the public against 3 members of the Sulu-based ASG believed to have been sent out for a mission to sow terror in Zamboanga Peninsula. The national government is offering a reward of P3M for the information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of each of the suspects,” Climaco said in an advisory alongside photos of the terrorists.

The photos were provided by the military’s anti-terror Joint Task Force Zamboanga which also called on the public to stay vigilant. “The community is advised to be vigilant and immediately report any suspicious person / local terrorist,” it said.

Last Wednesday, police captured an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Jamiul Nassalon whose group was reportedly planning to launch attacks in Zamboanga Peninsula.

Brig. Gen. Jesus Cambay Jr, the regional police chief, said Nassalon was tracked down in his hideout in Caliran village in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Mabuhay town. “Presently, Jamiul Nassalon is in the process of organizing his group intended for another terroristic activity within the Zamboanga Peninsula,” he said.

“Jamiul Nassalon was arrested (by police forces) after a 3-hour travel using high-speed sea craft which surreptitiously entered the shorelines of Mabuhay municipality, taking advantage of the darkness of the night and unknown to him a police asset and members of the Barangay Intelligence Network had been monitoring his activities,” he added.

He said the 41-year old Nassalon, who uses various nom de guerre, is facing a string of criminal charges in connection to his bloody attacks against civilians in the region.

Nassalon was also implicated in the 2009 kidnapping of 71-year old Doroteo Gonzales, a carpenter in Zamboanga City who was eventually beheaded in Basilan province after his family failed to pay P25 million ransom in exchange for his life.

He was tagged as involved in the bombing of a provincial bus in Zamboanga City in 2012 that wounded at least 6 people. And the killings of 8 fishermen off Siromon Island, also in Zamboanga in 2017; and the strafing of a provincial in Buenavista village here that injured at least 8 passengers.

Nassalon’s capture came after National Police Chief General Archie Gamboa ordered an intensify campaign against the terrorist group linked to ISIS and Mayor Beng Climaco also ordered the police and military to tighten security in Zamboanga City following the August 24 bombings - claimed by ISIS - carried out by widows of slain Abu Sayyaf fighters in Jolo. The suicide attacks had killed over a dozen people and injured many civilians.

It was not immediately known whether Nassalon provided intelligence to the police and military about the plan of the Indonesian and Filipino terrorists to launch attacks in the region. (Zamboanga Post)

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