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4 soldiers hurt in clash with Abu Sayyaf in Basilan


Four government soldiers were hurt Tuesday in two encounters with Abu Sayyaf bandits in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, a military official said. Lt. Col. Rosalio Pompa, commander of the Army’s 32nd Infantry Battalion, said the involved Abu Sayyaf group was the one responsible for last Saturday’s raid in Barangay Tubigan in Maluso town that left 12 civilians, including four children, dead. “We were conducting combat operations related to the massacre at Tubigan. This is part of our operations against the perpetrators. They [troops] were moving on foot. During our pursuit, we encountered the Abu Sayyaf," he said. Three soldiers, who belong to the elite 4th Scout Ranger Company, were injured when the bandits detonated a landmine in Barangay Pamatsaken in Sumisip town. A fourth soldier was hurt in another encounter some 30 minutes later. Pompa said the injured soldiers were airlifted to a military hospital inside Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City, home of the military’s Western Mindanao Command. The military is bracing for more attacks from the al-Qaeda-linked bandit group after one of its top leaders, Albader Parad, was killed in an encounter in Sulu province last February 21. Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban said more breakthroughs may be achieved against the Abu Sayyaf after Parad’s death. “Right now, we are exerting efforts to get the other leaders and as I have said before, we will not stop until we have accounted the last Abu Sayyaf and our troops are now moving, scouring the area and eventually in the next few days maybe we will have some more encounters," said Sabban. Sabban said the Abu Sayyaf, which is responsible for several high-profile kidnappings in the past, is not as “synchronized" as before. “There there is no such coordination among all the groups. The Basilan group has no contact with the Sulu group or with the Tawi-tawi group. In effect, we have isolated each group and eventually piece by piece we will be able to neutralize these groups," he said. - KBK, GMANews.TV

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