ZAMBOANGA CITY – One army soldier was wounded in a clash with Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the Muslim province of Basilan, a major stronghold of the pro-ISIS group in southern Philippines.
The fighting broke out Sunday in the remote village of Baguindan in Tipo-Tipo after troops from the 18th Infantry Battalion clashed with a band of gunmen, sparking a running gun battle.
There were no reports of Abu Sayyaf casualties in the fighting, but the gunmen were followers of Pasil Bayali.
The Abu Sayyaf was founded in Basilan, one of five provinces under the Bangsamoro autonomous region, by Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani in the early 90s and is the most notorious group in the South.
Janjalani was killed in December 1998 in a clash with policemen in Basilan and was succeeded by his younger brother Khadafy who was also slain in September 2006 following a firefight with security forces in Sulu province.
After Janjalani’s death, the Abu Sayyaf fragmented in several groups and continue to operate under different leaders and eventually pledged an alliance with ISIS and resorted to ransom kidnappings to finance it violent campaign in Mindanao in an effort to establish a caliphate on the country’s second-largest island.
The number of Abu Sayyaf fighters is estimated to be several hundreds scattered across the Muslim region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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