5 Sayyafs killed in military ops in South

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Security forces killed 5 Abu Sayyaf militants in separate clashes in the southern Philippines where operations against the pro-ISIS group continues in the restive region, officials said Monday.

Officials said four gunmen were killed in the weekend fighting that also injured a soldier in the village of Lakit-Lakit in Tawi-Tawi’s Sapa-Sapa town after Marine soldiers tracked down the gang. 

The slain militants were linked by the military to ransom kidnappings off Sabah and Indonesia and had been in the list of notorious drug dealers.

Military photos released to The Zamboanga Post show the slain gunmen and recovered weapon and ammunition in Tawi-Tawi province. 

“The group is also known as conduits of Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf group conducting kidnapping operations in the tri-boundary of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The neutralized enemies are notorious drug personalities positively identified by the local government of Sapa-Sapa,” said Brig. Gen. Camilo Balutan, commander of the anti-terror Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi.

He said troops from the Marine Battalion Landing Team 6 and 64th Marine Company clashed with about 10 gunmen. The others managed to escape during the fighting that killed Oyong Maulana, Datu Solon Maulana, Rashida Maulana, and Nhadz Omar.

Balutan said soldiers recovered two packets of suspected crystal meth and a rifle, including ammunition and two cell phones.

In neighboring Sulu province, one Abu Sayyaf fighter was also killed after helicopter gunships pounded a terrorist hideout on Sulare Island off the town of Parang after civilians tipped off the military on the location of the militants.

Members of the US-trained elite Army Light Reaction Company and Naval Special Operations Group recovered the body of the gunman after the air assaults, according to Maj. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr, commander of anti-terror Joint Task Force Sulu.

“Once again, the Abu Sayyaf group has no safe place here in Sulu now that Tausugs are working actively hand in hand in promoting peace in this area,” he said, adding, “this operation was successfully achieved in collaboration with the local government of Sulu.”

Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, lauded the soldiers for their “very remarkable accomplishments” in Tawi-Tawi and Sulu. He said the operations against the Abu Sayyaf continue in the South. “Our troops are in pursuit of the remaining members of the group who managed to escape. We are working round-the-clock to ensure the safety and security of the people in our area of operations,” Sobejana said.

The Abu Sayyaf is also suspected of holding 5 Indonesian fishermen who were kidnapped on January 16 off Lahad Datu town in Sabah near Tawi-Tawi. Eight gunmen hijacked a trawler near Tambisan Island and seized five of the 8 crew, according to the Daily Express, which quoted a report by the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) chief Datuk Hazani Ghazali. 

Ghazali, speaking on television news channel Astro Awani, said “eight men had boarded the fishing boat before five of them are believed to have been kidnapped between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ESSCOM is currently collecting information from the three spared fishermen.”

He did not release the names of the fishermen, but the Indonesian news agency Antara has identified the skipper of the trawler as Arsyad Abdullah, 41. However, the Strait Times named the four other victims as La Baa, 32; Riswanto Hayano, 27; Edi Lawalopo, 53; and Syarizal Kastamiran, 29, - all based in Sandakan.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but the victims were snatched from the same area where the Abu Sayyaf captured 3 Indonesian fishermen in September last year and brought to Sulu. The trio - Muhammad Farhan, 27, Samiun Maneu, 26, and Maharudin Lunani, 26, were all rescued separately by Filipino troops in Sulu. (Zamboanga Post)


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