Military: We don't assume Moro group is helping Abu Sayyaf

A MILITARY official said there is no assumption that the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is helping the Abu Sayyaf group, whose members recently clashed with government troops.

Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang said the military, as an organization, does not believe that the MNLF is extending support to the rebel group.

He clarified that it is just coincidental that there are Abu Sayyaf bandits who have family ties with the members of the Moro group.

"Even there are some [ASG members] that have relatives in the MNLF, we do not assume that the MNLF is helping (the bandits)," Cabangbang said in an interview on state-run People's Television Network.

He added that while the two groups have "very clannish" cultures, it doesn't mean that one is helping the other.

On Sunday, Abu Sayyaf bandits figured in a five-hour encounter with government forces in Patikul, Sulu, wherein at least four soldiers were killed, Cabangbang said.

He said the still unidentified fatalities were brought to the Wesmincom headquarters while those injured were rushed to a hospital.

Cabangbang also said there are complementary operations by government forces in the neighboring areas of Patikul to thwart possible untoward incidents. (Emmanuel Louis Bacani/Sunnex)