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Friday, January 19, 2007
10 Sayyaf, 3 soldiers die in Sulu battle
MANILA -- Ten Abu Sayyaf members and three Marine troopers died in a fierce firefight in Patikul, Sulu on Thursday.
The clash came two days after the death of top terrorist leader Abu Solaiman, also in the province.
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Marine spokesman Ariel Caculitan said the latest incident is part of the contribution of the Philippine Marine Corps to renewed government efforts to decimate the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf.
He said elements of the Special Operations Platoon of the 9th Marine Battalion were deployed to Barangay Timpook following receipt of intelligence information on the presence of Abu Sayyaf members in the area.
At around noon Thursday, Caculitan said the troops caught up with more or less 30 Abu Sayyaf men led by Radullan Sahiron in the vicinity of Sitio Biti in Timpook, resulting in a firefight that lasted an hour.
Asked if Sahiron was among those killed, Caculitan said they have yet to establish the identities of those killed from the Abu Sayyaf side.
Top military officials had launched Operation Ultimatum, a campaign aimed at crippling the Abu Sayyaf as early as August last year. At least 7,500 Marines and Army soldiers are involved in the operation.
Last January 6, Army Scout Ranger soldiers killed Binang Sali, head of the Abu Sayyaf-Urban Terrorist Group operating in Sulu and Zamboanga City, following a clash with his group also in the outskirts of Patikul town.
And last Tuesday, Army Special Forces clashed with the group of Sahiron, one of the five top Abu Sayyaf leaders wanted by the US, in Mt. Dajo in Talipao, Sulu.
Last December 27, four Abu Sayyaf members who surrendered to government led Marine soldiers to an area where they buried the body of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani who supposedly died in a September 4 clash with the Marines in Patikul.
US and Filipino forensic experts have taken sample tissues from the remains for testing to determine if the body indeed belongs to Janjalani. The Philippine military has said the results of the tests are due in three to four weeks.
Armed Forces public information officer Bartolome Bacarro said the Abu Sayyaf is now a "disorganized" group following the recent military feats that saw the neutralization of a number of its leaders.
Bacarro said government forces will continue without let-up their operations against the Abu Sayyaf until the terrorist group is decimated. (VR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (January 19, 2007 issue)
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