Troops recover bodies of slain Abu Sayyaf fighters
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Sun, 07 Apr 2019 10:26:18 +0000
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Government troops pursuing Abu Sayyaf militants on the southern island of Simisa off Sulu province recovered three bodies of suspected gunmen killed in the fighting as security forces combed on Sunday forested areas where the terrorist group was hiding, the military said.
It said soldiers also recovered two rifles and ammunition in the area where the bodies had been found. They also destroyed a boat being used by the Abu Sayyaf in the mangrove areas of Simisa Island.
There was no report of fresh fighting, but the military deployed a huge number of soldiers in Simisa to “seek and destroy” the terrorists blamed for cross-border ransom kidnappings off Sabah in Malaysia.
Government forces on the island had rescued an Indonesian Heri Ardiansyah, 19, and a Malaysian fishermen Jari Abdullah, 24, – held captive since last year by the Abu Sayyaf – but another Indonesian fisherman, Hariadin, 45, drowned while escaping from the fighting between soldiers and militants.
The trio was kidnapped in December by the Abu Sayyaf and brought them by boat on Simisa Island.
The rescued Indonesian and Malaysian fishermen and the body of Hariadin were brought to the Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City.
While the hunt for militants continue, recent fighting in Sulu’s Patikul town resulted in the deaths of three soldiers and wounded over a dozen more after the Army clashed with at least 50 militants led by Hajan Sawadjaan. The operation is ongoing in the town’s hinterlands where the Abu Sayyaf fighters broke into smaller groups. The town is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf. AL JACINTO
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