| Four killed, 24 hurt in Abu Sayyaf clashes in Sulu
ZAMBOANGA CITY, (ABS-CBN) - Two
soldiers and two bandits were killed while 24 others were wounded in a series of clashes
between government troops and extremist Abu Sayyaf bandits in Patikul town, Sulu over the
weekend.
Reports reaching Camp Aguinaldo said the encounter between
elements of the 7th Infantry Battalion and 40 armed men took place in Barangay Darayan
around 8:40 a.m. Sunday.
The firefight lasted for six hours after which the rebels fled
in different directions.
In the initial volley of fire, two soldiers and two rebels
were killed. An additional 24 soldiers, including an unidentified officer, were wounded.
Two hours later, an Army platoon led by Lt. Tirado encountered
10 fleeing Abu Sayyaf bandits and engaged the enemy in an hour-long exchange of gunfire.
Around 3:16 p.m. that same day, another platoon chanced upon
30 bandits in Danag, Patikul and engaged the guerillas for an hour.
The series of encounters came in a bid to rescue American
hostage Jeffrey Schilling and the lone remnant of the Sipadan hostages, Filipino Rolando
Ullah who are reportedly being held by the group of Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot.
Since operations were launched last September 16, a total of
150 encounters have taken place which resulted to the killing of a total of 205 Abu Sayyaf
bandits, the capture of 174 and the surrender of 261 others.
In contrast, 14 soldiers and civilian volunteers have died
while an additional 77 others have been wounded since the start of military offensives
against the extremist group.
Only last week, intelligence reports said, Schilling was
spotted roaming in Jolo town with no armed escorts, further fanning speculations the
American may not be a kidnap victim after all.
Reports were rife that Schilling was not kidnapped by the
group but is in fact one of their arms supplier.
ASG mass graves
Meanwhile, members of the joint Task Force Trident stumbled
upon a mass grave in Patikul where at least 15 suspected Abu Sayyaf members were buried.
Elements of the Bravo company of the 77th Infantry Battalion
were conducting reconnaissance and combat patrol operations at the vicinity of Mount
Bagsak in Patikul when they discovered the bodies buried on shallow graves Friday morning.
The military believes the bodies are casualties of encounters
with government troops about three to four weeks ago.
This led the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Southern
command to believe that more bodies are buried in other parts of Patikul as the Abu Sayyaf
has suffered much casualties since the start of the military assault.
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