TWO more Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed during an encounter with security forces hunting the terrorist group on the outskirts of Patikul, Sulu Monday.
The latest killing of the still unidentified bandits in Sulu brought to four the number of Abu Sayyaf members slain since an 11-man terrorist team infiltrated Bohol province during the Asean Summit.
Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, said the slaying of the two bandits took place in Patikul Hill at about 7 a.m.
Sobejana said troops from the 10th Infantry Battalion were scouring the area when they chance upon some 15 bandits. Two bandits were killed in the ensuing gunfight.
Ground troops recovered the two bodies as well as three rifles.
Sobejana said the fighting lasted for about five minutes before the ASG members fled in different directions.
The latest casualties bring to 81 the number of bandits killed since January, when the military launched a major offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.
Of the 81 bandits killed, 49 were slain in Sulu alone, while the rest were killed in Basilan.
At least 42 bandits were also wounded in various military engagements in the same period.
The government hopes to put an end to the ASG by June.
Military intelligence units, meanwhile, have stepped up operations to locate and arrest terrorists who fled the war zones of Basilan and Sulu, Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said Wednesday.
He said seven more members of the Abu Sayyaf Group were cornered by intelligence operatives together with elements of the 111th Marine Company at their hideout last Sunday in Barangay Muti Highway, Zamboanga City.
He said that after validating and confirming intelligence reports about the presence of Abu Sayyaf men, security forces immediately launched an operation to arrest the terrorists. The operation was completed at around 10:05 p.m.
Galvez identified the arrested terrorists as Salip Alip, Benhar Hasin, Bargen Hasim, Karim Majad, Hadani Odjor, Mohammad Hatuirdin, and Jamric Ismani.
Galvez said the terrorists were about to rob a sari-sari store when the troops arrested them.
“Alip has a warrant of arrest for murder,” Wesmincom spokesperson Captain Jo-Ann Petinglay said.
She said Alip was among the men who murdered eight fishermen on Siromon island in Zamboanga City on Jan. 10.
“He was also involved to the strafing of a rural bus in Barangay Buenavista, on Feb. 14, 2017 and the murder of Ronald Juela in Barangay Buti, this city on Nov. 10, 2016,” Petinglay said.
