4 Abu Sayyaf camps captured

MANILA, Philippines—Four camps of the extremist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) were captured by Army troops during clashes in Basilan that began last Tuesday, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, the chief of the AFP public affairs office, said the number of ASG members killed has risen to six, with the same number of wounded.

According to Cabunoc, pursuit operations against the Abu Sayyaf are continuing in barangays Baiwas and Pamatsaken in the town of Sumisip, as the bandits have pulled back as the number of casualties on their side increased.

No casualty was reported on the military side, but an armored personnel carrier of reinforcement troops doing clearing operations in Baiwas’ Sitio Abatar was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) laid by the Abu Sayyaf.

The soldiers were also able to recover five improvised bombs—two from the encounter sites and three from the routes that the bandits took when they withdrew.

“Our troops are deliberate and careful in hunting down the Abu Sayyaf remnants because there are IEDs along their escape route,” Cabunoc said.

The ASG band that figured in the encounter was headed by subleader Radzmil Jannatul and Juhaivel Alamsirul, who are allegedly responsible for the killing of Lt. Jun Corpuz, a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 2014, and five other soldiers during an ambush in Sumisip last November.

Army troops, particularly those from the 104th Brigade, are leading the ground operations against the Abu Sayyaf while Marine forces are securing the Basilan Circumferential Road project which has yet to be completed.

According to Cabunoc, Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, the commander of the Western Command, ordered his men to hunt down the ASG remnants to the end.

Col. Restituto Padilla Jr., the AFP spokesperson, said this week’s clashes started when troops from the Army’s 104th Brigade engaged about 50 ASG bandits in various encounters along Barangays Pamatsaken and Baiwas last Tuesday.

Padilla said air strikes are providing support to the ground troops that were pursuing the ASG.