Two Abu Sayyaf rebels killed
Dozen are captured as troops
continue assault
ZAMBOANGA -- Two Abu Sayyaf
rebels were killed, while dozens of others were captured or surrendered as the military
continued its assault on the Muslim extremist group still holding five hostages, military
spokesmen said yesterday.
Two rebels were killed in the
cemetery of Jolo town on Friday by army troops tipped off by residents that the gunmen
were hiding there, said regional military spokesman army Colonel Hilario Atendido.
Another Abu Sayyaf member was
caught fleeing the area as the military continued its nearly month-long offensive against
the rebels.
Nineteen men, 10 women and
seven children, all believed to be either Abu Sayyaf members or their relatives, were also
captured on Pucad Manaol island, just off the coast of Luuk town on the group's stronghold
of southern Jolo island, regional military commander Lieutenant-General Diomedio
Villanueva said.
Three assault rifles were
captured.
The members are believed to
have mostly fled to the small island after the military bombarded their lair in the town
of Talipao on Jolo.
Four other Abu Sayyaf members
with rifles surrendered to the military in Talipao and Maimbung towns, Col Atendido said.
The latest incidents bring the
total of captured Abu Sayyaf members and sympathisers to 83. Another 34 have surrendered.
However, there were still no
reports on the whereabouts of the three Malaysians, one American and one Filipino still
being held by different Abu Sayyaf factions in Jolo.
At least 131 Abu Sayyaf members
had been killed since President Joseph Estrada ordered an assault on the kidnappers on
Sept 16. Five soldiers and three government militiamen have also died in the fighting.
Two French journalists and 12
Filipino evangelists being held by the Abu Sayyaf were freed after the assault was
launched.
The crisis began on April 23
when the Abu Sayyaf seized 21 foreign and local hostages from a Malaysian island and took
them to Jolo.
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