Four soldiers, 11 bandits killed in separate clashes in Basilan and Sulu

By Ronron
October 2, 2007

Four government soldiers and 11 bandits were killed in separate clashes Tuesday in Basilan and Sulu, officials said.

Philippine Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan (Marines) said the first incident happened at around 12:35 am yesterday in the small island of Lanhil just off the main island province of Basilan where an unidentified armed group was reported to be hiding.

“The tandem of the Philippine Navy Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Marines Battalion Landing Team (MBLT) 7 was dispatched by Rear Admiral Emilio Marayag, commander of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao, to conduct verification on an intelligence report about the presence of an armed group in the said island,” Caculitan said in a phone interview.

Caculitan said that as of Tuesday afternoon, there is still no confirmation whether or not the bandits are members of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

He said that when the government forces arrived on the island, gunfire coming from more or less 20 armed bandits met them, ensuing a 20-minute firefight.

Four Navy personnel and 10 bandits were killed in the incident, while two others Navy personnel were slightly wounded.

All government casualties were immediately airlifted to the headquarters of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City.

But as for the slain 10 bandits, Caculitan said the government forces were not able to retrieve their bodies due to their lack in number. But he said there is an information that one of those killed was the leader of the group, identified as Abdulrajak Sadikal.

In Sulu, Army troopers and suspected ASG members and allied local bandits clashed at around 7:45 am, leaving one soldier wounded and a bandit killed, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Public Information Officer Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said.

Bacarro said the exchange of fire happened at Sitio Niug, Barangay Sangahan in Talipao town and lasted for about 20 minutes.

He said the elements of the Bravo Company of the Army’s 15th Infantry Battalion were conducting combat operations when they encountered the rebels, numbering to about 50.

Bacarro said recovered from the slain bandit was an M16 rifle, a backpack and a military uniform.

Thousands of government troops have been deployed in Basilan and Sulu over the last two months to run after the ASG, rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members, and other lawless elements following the July 10 incident in Al-Barka, Basilan where 14 soldiers were killed, 10 of whom were mutilated./DMS