Terrorist killed, 5 others wounded in Zambo clash

PAGADIAN CITY - Security forces raided a terrorist hideout and killed one gunman, but 2 soldiers and three civilians were also wounded in the firefight in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Alicia town, about 211 kilometers from here, officials said Monday.

Officials said soldiers from the army’s 44^th Infantry Battalion and members of the elite Naval Special Operations swooped down on the hideout in La Paz village before sunrise Sunday and engaged the terrorists in a fierce battle that lasted 30 minutes.

At the end of the fighting, soldiers recovered the body of the slain gunman who was later identified as Idris Aquilon and his weapons, including rifle grenades and ammunition, and explosives, according to the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City.

Other members of the terror group managed to escape, but the anti-terror Joint Task Force ZamPeLan (Zamboanga Peninsula-Lanao provinces) said there could be more casualties on the enemy side following the discovery of bloodstains near the battle area.

“We believe that a number of the bandits were wounded and probably could have died due to loss of blood after the encounter especially that our troops are still pursuing them as of this report,” said Maj. Gen. Generoso Ponio, the task force commander.

The military did not say which terrorist group Aquilon belonged and only referred to him as a “local terrorist,” although other reports linked the gunman to the pro-ISIS Abu Sayyaf group, blamed for last month’s twin suicide bombings in Sulu’s capital town of Jolo that killed and wounded dozens of soldiers and civilians.

The attacks triggered a widespread terror alarm here and the rest of the Zamboanga Peninsula - compose of the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte - due to an alleged plot by the Abu Sayyaf to bomb civilian targets in the largely Catholic region.

Maj. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, said the operations against the terrorists are going on. “Our joint task forces continuously employ more pressure on the remaining local terrorists to gain more enemy strongholds and end terrorism in Western and Central Mindanao,” he said.

Just recently, police also captured an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Jamiul Nassalon who was among those 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.

Cambay 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.

Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco also released photos of 2 Indonesian and a Filipino 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. (Zamboanga Post)

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