SECURITY FORCES are in heightened alert in Southern Philippines due to threats of attacks by terrorists even as the government continues to battle the spread of the deadly coronavirus disease in the country.
Just this week, soldiers killed over a dozen terrorists in separate clashes in the troubled region from Sulu province to Zamboanga Peninsula and as far South Cotabato province.
Two pro-ISIS fighters were transporting explosives in the village of Lamsugod in South Cotabato’s Surallah town when soldiers intercepted and engage the duo in a firefight. Their group is being linked by authorities to previous attacks in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
At least 5 Abu Sayyaf gunmen were also killed by soldiers in fierce clashes in Zamboanga Sibugay province, but 2 infantrymen and a civilian were also injured in the fighting in the village of President Roxas in R.T. Lim town.
Security forces caught up with a group of gunmen escaping a military operation from the nearby town of Alicia where a terrorist had been killed and 2 soldiers and three civilians also wounded in the battle in La Paz village.
Lt. Col. Don Templonuevo, commander of the 44th Infantry Battalion, whose group is pursuing the terrorists, said: “This is the result of our pursuit operations against the armed elements of Abral Abdusalam and Sahibad Group led by Furuji Indama after our encounter in Barangay La Paz in Alicia, Zamboanga Sibugay.”
Templonuevo said troops recovered the bodies of the gunmen and their automatic weapons. The identities of the dead remain unknown, he said, adding, soldiers clashed with at least 10 armed men in the area.
Citing intelligence reports, Brig. Gen. Leonel Nicolas, commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade, said the Basilan-based Abu Sayyaf gunmen were on a kidnapping mission.
Last October 4, gunmen led by a rogue leader Abdul Alip, of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, kidnapped a 70-year old British man, Allan Arthur Hyrons, and his Filipina wife, Welma Paglinawan, in Tukuran town in Zamboanga del Sur.
Alip handed over the couple to the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu province where the pro-ISIS group demanded P50 million for the safe release of the victims. The victims were allegedly rescued by soldiers November 25 after a clash with the Abu Sayyaf.
In Sulu province, army soldiers killed 2 Abu Sayyaf fighters in the township of Patikul, a known stronghold of the pro-ISIS group. Members of the 3rd and 5th Scout Ranger Battalions recovered the bodies of the militants, including their weapons, according to Brig. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of both the 11th 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 August 24 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 1102nd Infantry Brigade, said there will be no let-up in the operation until Sawadjaan’s group is neutralized.
“The 1102nd 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.
Security forces also launched a massive hunt for 2 Indonesian and a Filipino member of the Abu Sayyaf who are planning attacks in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco released the photos of the terrorists and told the public to keep on the lookout for the trio. She said the government has offered a P3 million rewards for the capture of the Indonesian Andi Baso and his female partner Reski Fantasya; and Sawadjaan.
Last month, 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. 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.
Cambay said 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.
Nassalon was tagged 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. (With a report from Rhoderick Beñez)
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