6 Abu Sayyaf members killed in gunbattle

2 in Lamitan siege collared

By Joel Guinto, Julie Alipala
INQUIRER.net, Inquirer
Last updated 03:42am (Mla time) 01/07/2007

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Six Abu Sayyaf bandits, including two ranking leaders, were killed during a fierce clash with soldiers in Tawi-tawi around 5 p.m. Saturday, military officials said.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro earlier said that seven militants were killed, based on an initial report from troops in Tawi-Tawi, the Philippines' southernmost province, about 1,050 kilometers (656 miles) southwest of Manila.

An official report corrected the figure to six dead, he said.

Commodore Geronimo Defensor, Naval Forces Western Mindanao commander, said that among those killed was Jundam Jamalul alias Black Killer. The US government had included Jamalul on its list of terrorists and offered a bounty of $40,000 for his capture or death.

Aside from Jamalul, only two others of the slain guerrillas -- Abu Hubaida and a Gadar -- have been identified so far, Defensor said.

"Four others remain unidentified but all seven bodies were recovered along with firearms," he said, adding the bodies had taken to Panglima Sugala town in Tawi-Tawi.

Defensor said government forces also recovered a twin-engine pump boat.

Brigadier General Juancho Sabban, commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade, said that Philippine Marines spotted Jamalul's seven-man group in Patikul, Sulu, as early as Friday.

"There was initial tracking of the bandits on Friday night in Capual Island," Sabban said, adding that the guerrillas fled by boat to Tawi-Tawi after a brief clash.

"Elements of the 2nd Marine Battalion Landing Team (MBLT) pursued the enemies up to Tawi-tawi," Sabban said.

Sabban said government forces caught up with Jamalul's group in Balimbing village in the town of Panglima Sugala.

Defensor said Navy forces had put up a blockade to prevent the group from slipping away.

None of the government forces was wounded in the clash, he said.

Jamalul's group was involved in the 2000 Sipadan hostage-taking incident where more than a dozen people, including Westerners, were taken by the bandit group at gunpoint from the Malaysian dive resort. He was also allegedly involved in other Abu Sayyaf attacks.

Earlier Saturday, two Abu Sayyaf members involved in the Lamitan hospital siege in Basilan province were arrested in Zamboanga City.

Bacarro identified the bandits as Abu Sampang and Wakil Sampang, who were collared at a restaurant on Governor Camins Avenue at around 2:30 p.m.

The military has embarked on an ambitious plan to neutralize the Abu Sayyaf, which has recently allied itself with the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiya. JI operatives have been training Abu Sayyaf bandits in bomb-making techniques, using those perfected by militants linked to al-Qaida.

Recently, the military launched Oplan Ultimatum, which is aimed at capturing the group's ranking leaders and several Indonesian terrorists hiding in Sulu. But so far, only a few bandit leaders have been arrested or killed.

Recently, the military said it found a grave and recovered what it believed to be the remains Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani. Tissue samples from the remains have been brought to the United States for DNA testing, using samples from Janjalani's brother, Hector, who is in a jail in Metro Manila.

The Abu Sayyaf, founded by Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, Khadaffy's elder brother, gained notoriety in the late 80s by raiding and burning down the town of Ipil in Zamboanga del Sur (now Zambonga Sibugay) and staging a series of kidnappings and bomb attacks.

It styles itself as an Islamist group and has been on Washington's list of terror organizations because of its activities targeting Americans and other foreigners.

With a report from the Associated Press

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