THREE suspected suicide bombers, including two foreigners, were killed in a shootout with security forces in the province of Sulu, military official said Wednesday, November 6.
Colonel Ignatius Patrimonio, Army’s 1102nd Infantry Brigade commander, said the shootout took place around 4:50 p.m. Tuesday at Sitio Itawon in Kan Islam Village, Indanan, Sulu.
Patrimonio said the shootout ensued as the terrorists opened fire when flagged down by troops of the Army’s 41st Infantry Battalion along the national road of Indanan.
He said the troops returned fire which caused the instantaneous death of the three terrorists riding on a motorcycle.
Patrimonio said the troops recovered from the slain terrorists a caliber .45 pistol with ammunition, a hand grenade, and two vests with explosives and triggering devices.
He added that the foreign terrorists were allegedly the husband and son of a foreign female suicide bomber, who attacked a military post on September 8 at kilometer 3 in Tagbak Village, Indanan.
The army official said the third suicide bomber is a member of the Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).
He said the recovered vests were identical to the vest used by the suicide bombers during the two bomb attacks on June 28 in Tanjung, Indanan, and on September 8 in Tagbak.
He said the hostile plan of the terrorists, if they succeeded, could have caused tremendous casualties. (SunStar Zamboanga)