MINDANAO:80 SAYYAF KILLED IN PATIKUL SULU FIGHTING

By Al Jacinto, Correspondent

Military officials said Wednesday that more than 80 members of the Abu Sayyaf have been killed in three days of fierce fighting in Jolo, where soldiers were trying to capture two Jemaah Islamiah leaders linked to the 2002 Bali bombings.

“We estimate about 80 or probably more are killed on the Abu Sayyaf side. Our soldiers fighting the terrorists reported as many as 80 Abu Sayyaf are dead in the fighting in Jolo Island since Monday,” Lt. Col. Susthenes Valcorza, a spokesman for the military’s Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), told The Manila Times.

The number of enemy casualties in the fighting in Patikul continued to rise and clashes also erupted Wednesday in the neighboring town of Indanan, also a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, Valcorza said.

“The offensive is going on. Troops are fighting in two fronts and we will destroy the terrorists,” Valcorza said, but there were no immediate reports of fresh casualties.

Six soldiers killed on Monday in the Patikul clash were brought to a Marine base in Zamboanga City and were given honors by the military. Four of 19 soldiers wounded in the fighting were airlifted to Manila for further treatment of gunshot wounds, while the rest remain at the Camp Navarro hospital in Jolo.

Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, Westmincom commander, visited the wounded on Wednesday and distributed packed noodles and sandwich and gave P500 each to the soldiers. “You are all brave soldiers and we salute all of you. We are fighting terrorism here and we will crush terrorism,” he told the soldiers. It was Cedo’s 55th birthday.

Cedo said he ordered a naval blockade in Jolo Island to prevent the terrorists from escaping. “We have forces at sea and our boats are patrolling the coasts and the terrorists cannot escape; we will get them sooner or later,” he said.

Troops were pursuing Jemaah Islamiah bombers Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who were with the group of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and Radulan Sahiron.

“All forces are now on the ground and with one mission and that are to destroy the terrorists. There will be no “let-up” in the campaign against the terrorists. We will not rest until we neutralize the terrorists and bring back peace in the province,” Cedo said.

Last month, soldiers also clashed with the Abu Sayyaf under Khadaffy Janjalani in Patikul town and recovered Dulmatin’s tools in manufacturing bombs, including remote-controlled detonators and other electronic gadgets.

The military said the Abu Sayyaf was protecting Dulmatin and Patek in Jolo. A small group of US soldiers involved in training Filipino troops were helping the Philippine troops hunt for Janjalani and Dulmatin and Patek.

The United States offered a $10-million bounty for Dulmatin and $1 million for Patek’s capture and another $5 million for known Abu Sayyaf leaders, including Janjalani, its chieftain.

President Arroyo also put up P100-million rewards for the capture of the group’s leaders and their members dead or alive.