ZAMBOANGA CITY—At least 40 Abu Sayyaf bandits, including a suspect in the abduction of a television crew, were killed while 25 were wounded in two separate major operations against the bandit group in Sulu and Basilan which started last week, the military said.
Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command, said the number of casualties was expected to go up as the military continues to pound the positions of the Abu Sayyaf in the two provinces.
Tan said that in Sulu alone, 22 Abu Sayyaf bandits had been killed and 16 others wounded in the assaults that started since July 7 in the jungles of Sulu where the ransom-seeking group is also believed to be holding a number of foreign hostages.
Arok followers
Among those killed, Tan said, were Sabtola Mahalli, Mallah Sangkula and Bas Sariyul.
Sangkula and Mahalli were followers of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Basaron Arok while Mahalli was allegedly involved in the June 2008 kidnapping of ABS-CBN reporter Ces Drilon and her crew; and Nelso Lim of Mega Fishing Corp. in 2011.
One soldier was killed while six other soldiers were injured in the fighting in Sulu, Tan said. The lone fatality was identified as Private First Class Jeffrey Cariño.
In the Basilan clashes, Tan said 18 Abu Sayyaf fighters had so far been killed while nine others were injured since the operation there started on July 6.
He identified two of those killed as Julkifli Sariul and Kussien Pallam Seong.
One soldier was also killed on Tuesday while five others were injured when a landmine exploded and hit an Army unit in Barangay Baguindan in Tipo-tipo, Basilan, he said.
Tan said members of the 8th Scout Ranger Company were trying to occupy a “fortified location of the Abu Sayyaf,” when they were hit by the landmine.
Accurate
Asked if the military’s figure on Abu Sayyaf deaths was accurate, Tan said: “I can say yes.”
“Our troops on the ground saw how these enemies died but were dragged by their companions as they retreated. We also saw many shallow graves but we did not bother to dig them up out of respect for the dead. We do not exert efforts in recovering slain enemies because the bodies have no use to us,” Tan said.
President Duterte, who started his six-year term on June 30, has warned the Abu Sayyaf to stop a wave of ransom kidnappings, saying he would eventually confront them. His military chief said last week a looming offensive would “shock and awe” the extremists.
Not criminals
While past presidents have regarded Abu Sayyaf militants as bandits thriving on kidnappings for ransom and extortion, Duterte said last week he would not lump them with criminals. “These were the guys who were driven to desperation,” he said.
The militants, however, have shown no sign of heeding Duterte’s call to stop kidnappings, which he said has sullied the country’s image.
Indonesian officials said Monday that suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen kidnapped three Indonesian fishermen over the weekend off Lahad Datu in northern Borneo.
The United States and the Philippines consider the Abu Sayyaf, which has more than 400 armed fighters, as a terrorist organization for deadly bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings over the last three decades. With a report from AP