Patikul, Sulu (Wikipedia maps)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Two soldiers were wounded and a suspected Abu Sayyaf member was killed in a 40-minute gunbattle between government troops and the notorious bandit group in Sitio Bud Taming, Barangay Panglahayan in the town of Patikul in Sulu on Thursday morning, April 11.
Colonel Gerry Besana, the public affairs officer of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said soldiers belonging to the 32rd Infantry Battalion clashed with a big number of bandits numbering around 100, under the leadership of Abu Sayyaf chief Radulan Sahiron.
After more than 40 minutes of exchange of fire, the bandits fled towards the southwest direction of Patikul town.
Besana said the 32nd IB troops were now in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.
The recent clash came three days after the surrender of one of the trusted followers of Sahiron, Nidsmar Annuddin.
Annuddin surrendered to the military on April 8 and voluntarily handed over his firearm, an M16 rifle.
Earlier, Brigadier General Divino Rey Pabayo, commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, announced that more than 90 bandits have surrendered to the military in a span of 313 days, or until March this year.
He said the defection to the government side of a number of bandits had a “strong impact in the all-out offensive of the military against the Abu Sayyaf.”