ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—They arrived before the sun came out. And the gunbattle continued even when the sun was already down.

When the day was over, 23 soldiers, two of them officers, lay dead and 22 others were wounded.

"It was the most difficult and the most exhausting firefight I had ever encountered in my whole life," 25-year old Private First Class Joel Alano, a member of elite unit Light Reaction Company, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview in his hospital bed at the Don Navarro Memorial Hospital inside the Western Mindanao Command headquarters here.

Alano, a native of La Union, Nueva Ecija, was hit by shrapnel on his back.

"Buong araw hanggang gabi, walang tigil sa bakbakan. Halos gutom at nanghihina na kami, tapos ang reinforcement namin nadale pa (The fighting went on from dawn to dusk. We were hungry and exhausted and then our reinforcement got hit)," he said in between heavy breathing.

Alano said their mission in Tipo-tipo town in Basilan was clear: Neutralize the Abu Sayyaf Group under Puruji Indama.

But as the fighting dragged on, Alano said, the enemy seemed to have increased in number.

"Habang tumatagal ang bakbakan, mas dumarami po ang mga kalaban. Una parang singkwenta lang silang lahat, bago magdilim umabot na sila ng mahigit dalawang daan (As the fighting wore on, they increased in number. At first, there were about 50, but before nighttime, they increased to over 200)," he said.

Private First Class Randy Liboon of the 4th Scout Ranger Company said they were the first to arrive in the target area -- an Abu Sayyaf camp in Sitio Kurrelem in the village of Silangkom -- shortly 4 a.m. on August 12.

"Akala namin konti lang ang kalaban namin-- isang company kami lahat (around 30 soldiers) at may kumpleto kaming supply good for three days. Pero pagdating namin sa target area, naka-position na ang mga kalaban, hayun bakbakan na agad (We thought we were just dealing with a few -- we were just one company [around 30 soldiers] and we had supply good for three days. But when we reached the target area, the enemy was already in position and fighting started immediately)," Liboon said.

In that fighting, two in Liboon's group were killed-- a junior officer and a radioman.

"At first, kakaunti lang sila, around 50. Harap-harapang labanan at habulan. Hanggang naka-enkwentro naman nila yung ibang unit (Light Reaction Company) [At first, there were just 50 of them. The fighting was face to face. Later, they encountered the other unit (Light Reaction Company)]," Liboon said.

Staff Sergeant Garry Tolentino also did not expect the fighting to last until nighttime.

"Akala namin, sandali lang ang magiging labanan dahil sa reinforcement, yun pala yung mag-aalalay sa amin ang talagang nadale ng todo (We thought the fighting would not last long because the reinforcement was coming but as it turned out, the ones who were there to help us got hit heavily)," Tolentino said, referring to the 67th Marine Raider Company, which had 18 deaths.

The wounded soldiers were puzzled that the Abu Sayyaf bandits seemed to know government troops' movements, including the 8 a.m. arrival of the 67th Marine Raider Company, which served as reinforcement.

"Ako talaga nagtataka kung bakit alam nila ang movement namin. Kung di pa malakas ang loob namin, tiyak tapos na kaming lahat (I’m wondering why they know our movements. If we were not brave enough, we would have been wiped out)," Liboon said.

Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, said the first wave of clashes started at 3:47 a.m. with government troops coming from the Special Operations Command (Scout Rangers) the 61st Marine Company, Force Recon Battalion, the Special Operations Platoon 10 and the Marine Battalion Landing Team 10.

The second wave -- with soldiers belonging to the 67th Marine Raider Company, the Force Recon Battalion and the PNP Special Action Force -- was at 5 a.m.

In the second wave, three soldiers were killed.

Dolorfino said 22 soldiers were wounded in the fighting.

Still, Dolorfino said that government achieved a "significant victory over decisive offensive against the Abu Sayyaf Group."

"We have also recovered a total of 21 enemy bodycount and 17 high-powered firearms," Dolorfino told reporters in a press briefing Thursday.

He said two Abu Sayyaf commanders, Muttong Indama and Asid Sali, were also killed.

Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, commander of Naval Forces Western Mindanao and chief of Task Force Trillium in charge of the offensives in Basilan, said government overran the bandit group's training camp.

"And we have taken their bomb manufacturing site where they assemble and make improvised explosives devices," Pama said.

Pama also said the camp was also where the group brought their kidnapping victims.

Director Felizardo Serapio Jr., chief of the Western Mindanao Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPO), said a notorious bomber in Central and North Cotabato was reported to have been hiding in the camp.

Serapio said the IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and bomb materials recovered from the camp had the "trademark" of suspected bomber Khair Mundos.

Mundos, Serapio said, bolted jail in General Santos City.

"We presume he was there to train more bombers as indicated by the volumes of IED recovered in the training camp," Serapio said.

Dolorfino, meanwhile, said the slain and wounded soldiers had "committed their supreme sacrifice to protect our people."