By Ronron
January 18, 2007
A day after confirming the death of Abu Sayyaf notorious leader Abu Solaiman in Sulu, 10 more rebels were killed and three others were captured on Thursday in a fresh encounter in the town of Patikul against government troops, a military spokesman said.
Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan, public information officer of the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC), said elements of the Special Operations Platoon of the 3rd Marine Brigade clashed at 12 noon yesterday (Thursday) against at least 60 ASG rebels believed to be under the command of Dr. Abu Pula and Radulan Sahiron at Sitio Biti. Barangay Timpook.
He said the government troops, led by 2Lt. Alex Toledo, were already following the bandits since Wednesday night but only engaged them in a firefight yesterday, lasting for about an hour.
“This is our commitment to destroy the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu,” Caculitan said of the fresh encounter.
Unfortunately, he said three enlisted Marine personnel also lost their lives in the gun battle.
Caculitan said the three apprehended ASG rebels are now under the custody of the 9th Marine Battalion, under Lt. Col. Melquiades Ordiales.
On Tuesday, ASG leader Jainal Antel Sali, Jr., alias Abu Solaiman, who has a $5 million bounty on his head, was killed in an encounter against the Philippine Army’s Special Forces unit in Talipao town.
ASG Urban Terrorist Group Binang Sali was likewise neutralized when his safehouse in Patikul town was raided by military troops on January 9.
Three days earlier, Marine troopers shot dead five ASG operatives, one of whom was sub-leader Jundam Jamalul, alias Black Killer, and a Jeemah Islamiyah operative in a sea encounter in Tawi-tawi.
On the same day, two ASG members were also arrested in Zamboanga City.
The said neutralizations were credited to the AFP’s intensified campaign against the terrorist group under the campaign program OPLAN Ultimatum, launched on August 1, 2006.
Since that time, a total of 11 Marine officers and personnel were already killed in action.
In an ambush interview yesterday at Camp Aguinaldo, US Ambassador to Manila Kristie Kenney was all praises for the Philippine troops for the recent operations, while acknowledging it as results of the latter’s training with American forces.
“I’ve seen the AFP in Jolo, and they should make all of us very proud. They are a tremendous fighting force, and they are extraordinary in capturing some of the world’s most deadly terrorists. So, our strongest congratulations to the brave men and women of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to fight under tremendous leadership,” Kenney said.
“Obviously, the efforts in Jolo, as Gen. (Hermogenes) Esperon said, are the result of the extraordinary training on the part of the Philippine troops and I’m very proud that American forces have been here, training with, learning from, sharing ideas, advising, assisting,” she added.
Kenney said she looks forward to the upcoming RP-US Balikatan exercises next month as it would also “have a very special focus” on the humanitarian side, aside from “making people’s lives safer.”
The Balikatan exercises almost did not push through this year after the US initially withdrew their participation over the custody row involving convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith of the US Marine Corps.
Smith was sentenced last December 4 to lifetime imprisonment by a Makati City court for raping a Filipino woman on November 1, 2005 at Subic Bay Freeport in Olongapo City, Zambales.
He had just participated then from another RP-US training exercises in the country, the Talon Vision and Amphibious Landing Exercises.
Smith was first detained at the Makati City jail, upon orders of Makati judge Benjamin Pozon, but was whisked to the US Embassy in Manila on December 29th with the authority of the Philippine’s executive department, but not from the court.
Subsequently, the US government said it was pushing through with the holding of the Balikatan exercises./DMS
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