ZAMBOANGA City – Two Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits were killed while two others wounded in a firefight that broke out as the military continues its focused operations against the terrorist group in Sulu.
Brigadier General Divino Rey Pabayo, Joint Task Force Sulu commander, said the latest firefight occurred around 11 a.m. on Thursday in Sitio Tubig Amu, Barangay Tanum, Patikul, Sulu.
Pabayo said the troops from the Army’s 41st Infantry Battalion were conducting operations when they chanced upon a group of ASG bandits in Sitio Tubig Amu, Barangay Tanum.
He said the ASG bandits suffered two deaths and two wounded based in information they received from the populace as the bandits fled to Luba hill in Barangay Tanum.
“The troops are presently scouring the encounter site and will pursue the fleeing enemy,” Pabayo said.
The troops pounded Luba Hill with 105-milimeter (mm) howitzers and 81-mm mortar as the ground troops are tracking down the fleeing bandits.
“Military troops are closing in on evading Abu Sayyaf militants and are gaining a foothold with the sustained conduct of tactical offensives and intelligence operations being launched in the hinterlands of Sulu,” Lieutenant General Arnel Dela Vega, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, said.
The Joint Task Forces Sulu launched the focused military operations following orders from President Rodrigo Duterte to pursue the ASG bandits behind the Jan. 27 double bombing of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel cathedral in Jolo, Sulu. (PNA)
