Soldiers find body of 3rd Sayyaf victim in Basilan

The military had already located the body of the third logger abducted and beheaded by Abu Sayyaf bandits last Friday in Basilan province. Col. Ceaser Ronnie Ordoyo, deputy head of the military's Western Mindanao Command, on Sunday said that soldiers found the decapitated body of Elpidio Alimensi last Saturday afternoon in Maluso town. The bodies of Alimensi's companions, Daduh Lumatag and Manuel Lumasag, were found Saturday noon in Sumisip town. The three were reportedly towing lumber in Sitio Pali, Barangay Abong-Abong in Maluso town last Friday when they were abducted by the bandits led by Puruji Indama. Alimensi's body was found at the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Camp Omar in Limbubong village in Maluso. "These barbaric acts show the desperation of the ASG [Abu Sayyaf Group] to derail the ongoing pursuit operations of the A[Armed Forces of the Philippines]," said Orodyo. Last week, the al-Qaeda-linked bandits shot dead three workers of a rubber plantation cooperative after holding them hostage at Sumisip town. The latest killings apparently were a retaliation for the ongoing military and police operations, which have killed a number of militants, Basilan provincial police chief Antonio Mendoza said. Last week's killings happened two weeks after government troops raided an Abu Sayyaf camp, killing a bandit and capturing 14 others. Despite years of U.S.-backed offensives, nearly 400 Abu Sayyaf fighters have survived in Basilan and on nearby Jolo island and the Zamboanga peninsula. They remain a major security concern as part of a decades-long Muslim insurgency. The Abu Sayyaf, founded in Basilan in 1991, is believed by U.S. and Philippine security officials to have received funds and training from Osama bin Laden's network. - with AP/SD/KBK, GMANews.TV