2 soldiers killed in Basilan blast

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Two soldiers under the 64th Infantry Battalion were killed in an explosion caused by an improvised explosive device set off by Abu Sayyaf bandits on Friday.

The incident took place in the boundaries of barangays Lagayas in Tipo-Tipo and Cabangalan in Ungkaya Pukan towns in Basilan around 1 p.m., according to Navy Ensign Chester Ian Ramos, spokesperson of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao.

Ramos initially reported that the two soldiers, whom he did not identify, were only injured in the explosion and were rushed to a medical facility for treatment of splinter wounds.

“[G]overnment forces are conducting pursuit operations against the perpetrators,” Ramos said.

But Navy Commander Rot Vincent Trinidad said the two soldiers later died while being treated.

Their names were being withheld pending notification of their next of kin, Trinidad said.

He said the explosion, set off by suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits under Nurhassan Jamiri, took place as the soldiers—led by Sgt. Danilo Go—were on foot patrol in the borders of the two villages to secure commuters and soldiers passing by the area.

“They were hit by the IED explosion,” he said.

In the past, similar attacks in Basilan were also blamed on the Abu Sayyaf, a ragtag band of self-styled Islamists, which has alleged ties with the Jemaah Islamiyah and other terror groups in Southeast Asia.