AN ABU Sayyaf Group (ASG) member was killed in a clash with military troops as offensive continues in a bid to rescue the kidnap victims in the island province of Sulu, the military said.
Lieutenant General Arnel Dela Vega, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, said the clash happened around 9 a.m. Monday, September 10, when Army’s 21st Infantry Battalion troops chanced upon 60 ASG bandits in Bungkaong village, Patikul, Sulu.
Dela Vega said the troops were on security operation when they clashed with the bandit group led by ASG sub-leaders Almujer Yadah and Idang Suskan in Barangay Bungkaong.
He said the firefight resulted to the death of an ASG member identified as a certain Muin.
The Westmincom chief said the troops recovered the remains of Muin and an M-16 Armalite rifle from the clash site as the rest of the bandits fled.
No one among the troops were either killed or wounded during the clash, he added.
A total of 38 ASG bandits were killed in separate clashes since January this year. Of the total, 32 were killed in Sulu and the remaining six in Basilan, the military official said.
He said the troops are continuously tracking down the ASG bandits in a bid to rescue the hostages, who are still in the hands of the bandit group.
The ASG bandits are still holding captives 10 people, including five foreigners--three Indonesians, one Vietnamese, one Dutch.
The remaining five hostages are all Filipinos. (SunStar Philippines)