Two Marine soldiers killed in fresh clash in Sulu; death of Hapilon son during July 10 encounter being validated

By Ronron
July 17, 2007

Two Marine troopers were killed while another soldier was wounded after they clashed with suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Patikul, Sulu Tuesday morning.

Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan, spokesman of the Philippine Marine Corps, said the firefight occurred while elements of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 5 were securing a main road at the vicinity of Barangay Tugas at around 6:30 a.m.

“Their mission was to secure the road for public utility and military vehicles,” Caculitan said.

He said the soldiers were fired upon reaching the area, triggering a 10-minute gun battle that resulted in the death of two Marine enlisted personnel and the wounding of another one.

The attackers, Caculitan said, were forced to withdraw after the arrival of more troops from the nearby camp of the Marines.

He said the bandits were led by a certain Jul Asbi. He could not, however, provide immediate information about Asbi.

Caculitan said the soldiers inflicted heavy casualties to the bandits whom he said was numbering to at least 30. But no cadaver of the bandits was retrieved during the clearing operations.

He said they are now conducting follow-up operation to hunt down the ASG members.

The killing of the two Marines came a almost a week since 14 Marines, 10 of them were beheaded, were killed in an ambuscade-turned-encounter perpetrated by suspected members of the ASG and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Al-Barka, Basilan.

Caculitan disclosed there are unconfirmed reports that the son of ASG leader Isnilon Hapilon was killed during the July 10 encounter, and Hapilon himself was wounded.

“We are still trying to confirm this report… Those reports are gathered by the intelligence units and some were volunteered by civilians in the area,” Caculitan said yesterday.

Asked if Hapilon’s presence in the clash site would mean that the ASG and the MILF are indeed working together, Caculitan said: “I think the whole story points to some speculations in the way as you may conclude. But again, let’s not preempt the CCCH (Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities of the government and the MILF) in the conduct of their investigation and let’s see how the result would be.”/DMS