31 Abus, 23 troops killed in Basilan

MANILA, Philippines – Intense firefights between government forces and Abu Sayyaf bandits in Basilan since Wednesday have killed 54 people and left 22 others wounded, the military said yesterday.

Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said 31 Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed while the government forces suffered 23 casualties. Two of the fatalities were junior officers.

The firefight broke out early Wednesday after the military launched a major offensive on a suspected Abu Sayyaf training camp in Sitio Kurellem, Silangkum in Tipo-Tipo town.

Government forces encountered heavy resistance from a large Abu Sayyaf group led by Furuji Indama and Khair Mundos.

The camp was overrun by government forces, but initial reports from the field said the daylong clashes that followed had been fierce and resulted to heavy casualties on both sides.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said the initial field reports indicated the Abu Sayyaf sustained at least 30 to 40 casualties although 21 bodies were retrieved during clearing operations yesterday.

Burgos said the troops encountered stiff resistance after the bandits were reinforced by other armed groups, resulting in the eight-hour gun battle.

Military information spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said among the Abu Sayyaf leaders killed during the firefight was Mundos, the alleged overall leader of the bandit group in Basilan.

Mundos, who carried a $5-million reward put up by the US government, was tagged by the military as the alleged conduit with the regional Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) linked with the al-Qaeda international terror network.

The military said Mundos reportedly acted as the bandit group’s logistics official from 2001 to 2003 before he escaped detention in Cotabato City jail two years ago.

The military added numerous home-made bombs, ready for detonation, were retrieved from the area along with several high-powered firearms, two rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), machine guns and grenade launchers.

Soldiers, on the other hand, airlifted their fallen comrades to Zamboanga City, most of them killed by sniper fire. The wounded were brought to Zamboanga Medical Hospital for treatment.

Western Mindanao Command chief Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said the fighting has ceased but troops were still clearing the area to ensure no bandits remained.

“The enemy incurred (casualties) more than 50 percent of their strength, because it (clearing operation) did not give them the opportunity to recover their firearms and dead as usual,” he said.

Brawner, on the other hand, said there is no need to deploy additional troops in the area since Dolorfino has operational control.

“Westmincom under General Dolorfino is now running the show. We are leaving everything to our commanders on the ground to finish this Abu Sayyaf,” Brawner said.

Caught in a crossfire

Dolorfino later told a briefing in Zamboanga City that the government suffered 23 killed and 22 others wounded.

He added the Abu Sayyaf were aided by gunmen belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He said 10 of the rebels killed during the firefight have been identified as MILF guerrillas.

Dolorfino said the MILF guerrillas were helping the Abu Sayyaf by blocking government reinforcements to the area of operations.

“So the presence of the MILF in that area was even questionable, why they joined the Abu Sayyaf group that was the subject of the military in law enforcement in that area,” Dolorfino said.

Dolorfino said they already considered the 10 MILF guerrillas who were killed as “part-time” members of the Abu Sayyaf.

“We really don’t know if they were part-time Abu Sayyaf and part- time MILF, but their presence in the battle area presses a question to the impression that they may be part-time, considering there was an effort to inform all MILF members that there was an impending law enforcement operation in that area,” he said.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu confirmed the 10 were members of the front’s 114th base command in the area. He added another fighter has been reported missing.

Kabalu claimed their forces were caught in the crossfire during the encounter.

He said the MILF guerrillas were in the area to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from taking refuge in their area but they were attacked by government troops in Sitio Baba Maputi.

Kabalu said the MILF would file a formal complaint before the joint ceasefire committee to investigate the incident.

The MILF issued a statement in its website, saying the “misbehavior” of the military resulted in the deaths of 10 of its fighters.

The MILF accused the military of violating the suspension of offensive military operations (SOMO).

President Arroyo ordered the SOMO last month to allow the peace negotiations with the MILF to proceed.

Decisive

Despite the heavy casualties that Dolorfino described as “unwanted consequences of battle,” the military operation against the Abu Sayyaf last Wednesday was decisive.

“This (formed part of what we call) unwanted consequences of battle but we have achieved a strategic victory because we now hold a very important strong area of the Abu Sayyaf which will deny them a very strong mass base support,” Dolorfino said.

Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, chief of the Task Force Trillium, said the operation was part of the campaign plan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to run down the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan.

The military launched the offensive a month after the Abu Sayyaf released Italian Red Cross worker Eugenio Vagni, held captive by the bandit group for almost 200 days.

AFP chief Gen. Victor Ibrado said the military would still intensify its operations against the Abu Sayyaf notwithstanding Vagni’s release.

The US government is helping the AFP in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf where Washington has put up sizeable bounty for the capture of its leaders.

The US military has deployed its Joint Special Operations Task Force in Mindanao to provide technical help to the AFP in the offensives against the Abu Sayyaf.

The commander of the US Pacific Command (USPACOM), on the other hand, expressed condolences to the families of the soldiers killed in the fighting in Basilan.

“Our sympathies to the families of those soldiers and Marines who lost a loved one in the recent activity versus terrorism in Southern Philippines,” USPACOM chief Adm. Timothy Keating said.

Keating, on a visit for the regular RP-US Mutual Defense Board (MDB) and Security Engagement Board (SEB) meetings, said the US government would reinforce its commitment to support the Philippines in the fight against terrorism.

Philstar

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