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Sunday, August 19, 2007
15 Marines, pilot killed in Basilan
ZAMBOANGA CITY –- Fifteen members of the Philippine Marines and a helicopter gunship pilot were killed during a fierce clash with al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants in Basilan Saturday, a military spokesman said.
The military estimated 30 members of the Abu Sayyaf also died in the encounter.
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The Marines attacked an Abu Sayyaf camp and engaged about 70 militants in close-quarter combat in a remote village outside the town of Ungkaya Pukan on Basilan island early Saturday, Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro said.
Another seven Marines were wounded in the fighting, Bacarro said.
The troops from the 3rd Marine Brigade Command encountered with the bandits while scouring Sitio Kurelem, in Barangay Selangkum, according to the report.
At the height of the firefight, another group of soldiers positioned as blocking forces also clashed with the reinforcing elements of the Abu Sayyaf bandits near Sitio Kurelem.
Bacarro said among those confirmed killed on the Abu Sayyaf’s side were sub-leader Umair Indama alias Abu Jihad, brother of Furuji; and a certain Barad.
Umair is one of the four men identified as behind the beheading of 10 of 14 Marines soldiers killed last July 10.The three others were Nurhasan and Buhari Jamiri and Suaib Kalibon.
Jamiri surrendered to a crew of a television outfit and was subsequently turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).He confirmed taking part in the firefight but denied involvement in the beheading.
At the same time, the pilot of a helicopter gunship was killed and his co-pilot wounded when the aircraft crashed after providing fire support to the ground troops, Air Force chief Lieutenant General Horacio Tolentino said.
Tolentino said an investigation was underway to determine whether the crash was caused by ground fire or mechanical trouble.
Saturday's battle was the bloodiest clash on Basilan since a July 10 ambush left 14 Marines dead, 10 of whom were beheaded. Last week, 27 army soldiers and 32 Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed in separate clashes on Jolo island, farther south.
Bacarro said the number of Abu Sayyaf fatalities in Saturday's clash had yet to be confirmed, but the bodies of two commanders were recovered at the site, including one believed to have been involved in the July 10 beheadings.
He said the operation was undertaken in coordination with the local government in the area and the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is in peace negotiations with the government brokered by Malaysia.
"The Armed Forces of the Philippines will press the fight," Bacarro said, praising the marines' "gallantry."
A fragile 2003 ceasefire with the secessionist rebels - who have been fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the country's south for more than 30 years - was shaken last month by the July 10 gunbattle.
A military investigation blamed the rebels and Abu Sayyaf militants for the killings.
The MILF said its own investigation showed it was a "legitimate encounter" because the marines entered rebel territory without prior coordination. They also denied involvement in the beheadings, but did not say who was responsible.
Chief MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the MILF and government have agreed that MILF rebels will stay in a designated area during military operations so as not to be mistaken for Abu Sayyaf militants.(VR/Bong Garcia/AP/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (August 19, 2007 issue)
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