AT LEAST 12 members of the bandit gang Abu Sayyaf Group have been killed in continued military operations in Patikul, Sulu as security forces intensified their search and rescue efforts for the two police women kidnapped by the group last week.
In the latest combat operations against the group, the military on Monday said three bandits were killed while seven soldiers were wounded during an encounter in the same spot where the two women cops were forcibly taken by bandits.
The death of the three ASG bandits brings to 12 the total numbers of terrorist slain in four days of military operations against the terror group in Patikul, Sulu.
Brig. Gen Cirilito Sobejana, Commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, said troops from the 21st Infantry Battalion were scouring the supposed hideout of bandits where the two policewomen were believed being kept when they encountered at least 70 ASG terrorists at Sitio Sangay, Brgy Buhanginan, Patikul, the site of bloody battles.
Sobejana said the terrorists were reportedly led by Idang Susukan and Almujer Yadah.
As the firefight ensued, Sobejana said artillery fires were delivered against the ASG bandits while attack helicopters provided close air support for ground troops battling the enemies.
The slain ASG members were only identified through their alias as Moktar, Julhadi and Surayb, who were hurriedly buried by their comrades.
Last week, Police Officer 2 Benierose Alvarez and PO1 Dinah Gumahad were abducted by Abu Sayyaf rebels in Sulu, along with two other civilians identified as Faizal Ahidji and Jacosalem Bas Ahamad.
The kidnap victims have gone from the Quezon beach in Buhanginan when forcibly taken while on their way back to Jolo town proper.
The two policewomen are both assigned at the Crime Laboratory headquarters in Calarian, Zamboanga City when kidnapped by more or less 11 ASG, most of them relatives of slain ASG bandits
A day after the abduction, the military chanced upon a large band of ASG within the Buhanginan area, sparking intense fighting that resulted in the death of at least nine bandits and several others wounded.