Two soldiers killed, 10 wounded in Basilan encounter with suspected ASG rebels

By Ronron
September 26, 2007

Two government soldiers were killed while 10 others were wounded in an encounter Tuesday in Basilan province between government forces and suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), officials said.

According to Army Special Forces chief Brig. Gen. Arturo Ortiz, the clash started at around 7:45 am Barangay Silangkum in Tipo-tipo town and went on sporadically, ending at 6pm.

The involved troops were elements of the 9th Special Forces Company, Scout Rangers, Marines and the Air Force 710th Special Operations Wing, officials said, while the ASG numbered to no more than 80.

Armed Forces chief of Staff Gen. Oscar Calderon said they are investigating if Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members were with the suspected ASG in Tuesday’s clash.

Ortiz said the initial 7:45 am clash was followed at 1pm, and then at 2:40 pm that dragged on until 6pm.

“It was a fierce encounter in the same area of Silangkum, about more than a kilometer from the encounter site of August 18, where our Scout Ranger Test Mission operated this time,” told Camp Aguinaldo reporters yesterday.

Esperon said the operation was intelligence driven where they really targeted an encapment of the ASG.

He said the group was believed to be headed by a certain Furuji Indama, who was earlier reported by AFP Public Information Officer Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro to have died during the August 18 encounter in Silangkum village.

Indama is one of those charged by the police for the beheading of 14 Marine soldiers in Al-Barka town last July 10.

Told about the inconsistency regarding Indama, Esperon said: “That has since then been put into validation since there were reports that he was sighted somewhere. This is a continuing validation.”

Esperon said that in Tuesday’s fighting, intelligence report indicated that at least 10 ASG rebels were killed. But the military has not recovered any bodies.

Ortiz said that of the government casualties, one of the two slain soldiers is from the Special Forces, while the other one, as well as the 10 wounded, were Scout Rangers.

Esperon said a student, whose age was not immediately known, was also hurt after being hit by a stray bullet.

The military chief disclosed that American forces helped in the air evacuation of the slain and wounded government soldiers from Basilan to Zamboanga City where they were given medical treatment.

The incident was the last to happen since August 26 where joint Marine and Army forces clashed with ASG rebels also in Barangay Silangkum. There were no casualties reported in that firefight.

Prior to that was the deadly August 18 incident where 15 Marines were killed and seven others were wounded.

The military has deployed thousands of government troops in the island province to hunt after those responsible for the July 10 incident and to carry out humanitarian projects alongside military operations./DMS