AFP says JI bomber also hurt in August 9 clash in Sulu

By Ronron
August 16, 2007

After claiming that Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) leader Abu Pula, alias Dr. Abu, was hurt in the August 9 clash against Army troopers in Sulu, the military said Thursday that Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomber Dulmatin was also wounded in said incident.

Dulmatin is an Indonesian who has a $10 million reward from the US government for his capture or neutralization due to his involvement in the Bali bombing in 2002 that killed more than 200 people, including American nationals.

The military has said that Dulmatin and fellow JI bomber Umar Patek, who also has a $1 million reward from the US government, are being coddled by ASG forces in Sulu, and were in fact part of the August 9 encounter in Maimbung town.

“We have reports on Dr. Abu. We have a report on Dulmatin,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. told reporters yesterday when asked if the two were injured in the clash.

He said the report is based on accounts of the troops who operated in the area, as well of civilian residents.

“We don’t know yet where he (Dulmatin) was hit,” Esperon said.

Esperon said the report is continuously being verified by the troops in the field, like what they did when reports that ASG leaders Khadaffy Janjalani and Jainal Antel Sali, alias Abu Solaiman, were hurt in last year’s clashes against government troops.

Esperon said if indeed the report is true, it is to the advantage of the government troops because the wounded high-value targets would now be a burden to the group.

“You could just imagine if you have a wounded companion. The tendency would be not really to engage in operations but simply to hide,” he said.

Esperon said this could be the reason why there is still no armed confrontation as of Thursday since the August 9 incident.

According to the military, 27 bandits were killed while 25 others were wounded during that clash, although only five dead bodies were recovered. The military, for its part, suffered 15 fatalities and nine wounded./DMS