A member of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group was killed while two soldiers were wounded following a clash Tuesday morning with suspected terrorists in the island province of Sulu, the military said.
Troops from the Special Forces clashed with some 60 armed men, as government forces pressing on their “Operation Plan Ultimatum” to capture ASG chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and his Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) cohorts, Dulmaten and Omar Patek who are wanted for the 2002 Bali bombing in Indonesia.
The 2-hour clash took place in Mount Dahu, Talipao town, Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), told a Manila-based radio station in an interview.
Abu Sulayman, one of key leaders of the Abu Sayyaf group, reportedly led the gunmen. The extremists fled leaving one of their slain cohorts with undetermined number of casualties. “We believe Sulayman was injured,” the spokesman added.
At least nine suspected terrorists, including two JI militants, were killed and scores of others wounded since the operation began on Aug. 1. The military said it would not terminate the offensive until the combined al Qaeda-linked ASG-JI group is neutralized.
A recent military report said soldiers killed Janjalani during an encounter and his body was recovered near Patikul, on Sulu island. But this could not be confirmed until the DNA test results on Janjalani’s remains out. (HG)
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