7 dead as Abu Sayyaf, military special forces clash in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Five Abu Sayyaf bandits and two soldiers were killed during a fresh clash in Sulu on Wednesday, a military spokesperson, said.

Capt. Maria Rowena Muyuela, spokesperson of the military’s Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) here, said 9 soldiers and 14 Abu Sayyaf gunmen were also wounded in the firefight between the bandits and elements of the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion and 16th Special Forces Company.

As of posting, the gunbattle was still raging in Barangay Tanum in Patikul town.

Muyuela said soldiers were conducting law enforcement operations in Barangay Tanum when they clashed with some 300 bandits led by Hatib Hadjan Sawadjaan at about 9:20 a.m.

“The firefight is still ongoing,” she said, adding that the soldiers were being provided “air and ground support while the police established different blocking positions serving as blocking force against fleeing bandits.”

Muyuela said the movement of Sawadjaan’s group was being checked because of the large number of gunmen involved.

“We are still trying to determine if Sawadjaan’s group is holding hostages since they were moving in a big group,” she said.

Muyuela said prior to the operation, “the military and the police coordinated with the local government to ensure that no collateral damage will happen among the civilian population and to address possible displacement of families.”

Former kidnap victim Octavio Dinampo said Sawadjaan was the elder brother of Abu Sayyaf leader Asman Sawadjaan, who died of illness last year.

“This was the same group that took Jordanian journalist Baker Abdulla Atyani,” Dinampo said.

Wednesday’s clash was third of such incident in Sulu this month.

On February 5, as many as 15 Abu Sayyaf bandits were reportedly killed in clashes, also in Patikul. An Abu Sayyaf sub-leader, identified as Murasil, was among those killed.

The clash continued through February 6, during which 13 soldiers, including a junior officer, were wounded.