8 Army men wounded in clash with ASG in Sulu

By Ronron
November 7, 2007

Eight soldiers were wounded in a fresh encounter with suspected Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members in Sulu last Tuesday afternoon, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Jr., spokesman of the Philippine Army, said the clash happened at around 4pm in Barangay Lower Talipao in Talipao town.

He said elements of the Bravo Company of the Philippine Army’s 15th Infantry Battalion were conducting combat operations at said area when they encountered approximately 20 ASG members.

The heavy firefight lasted for 30 minutes, resulting in the wounding of eight Army personnel, Torres said.

“Troops are still determining the casualty inflicted on the ASG… But report has it that two wounded terrorists were seen being carried on a hammock after the encounter,” Torres said, quoting the battalion commander concerned, Lt. Col. Henry Dar.

Torres said the eight soldiers are in stable condition at the Trauma Hospital in Jolo town, but they were set to be brought to the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command Hospital in Zamboanga City for further treatment.

Thousands of troops have been poured to Sulu and the neighboring island province of Basilan in the last few months with the task of neutralizing the ASG following the July 10 incident in Basilan and the subsequent firefights in Sulu in August, where the military suffered heavy casualties.

In an interview in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, Philippine Marine Corps commandant Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino said yesterday that the “military operations against the Abu Sayyaf has been going on, without let-up.”

Reacting to the deadline set by Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. for the ASG neutralization as soon as possible, Dolorfino said: “I’m sure that with this challenge of the chief of staff, the units – Marine and Army – will be doubling their efforts in order to keep up with the challenge made by the chief of staff.”

“I think, if there’s a will, there will always be a way,” he added.

Asked if it means wiping out entirely the ASG, Dolorfino said: “I think what is meant by the chief of staff is strategic defeat of the Abu Sayyaf. And that would mean the neutralization of the center of gravity.”

Dolorfino said this refers to the “leaders” of the group. “If we will be able to neutralize the leaders, really, the organization will crumble down,” he said.

The military estimates the current strength of the ASG at no less than 300, most of them are in Sulu, in the company of Jemaah Islamiyah bombers Dulmatin and Umar Patek.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has directed the military to crush the ASG and other security threat groups by 2010 when she ends her term./DMS