CAMP SK PENDATUN, Maguindanao, Philippines –– Police authorities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, revealed nine Abu Sayaff terrorist were killed and several others critically wounded during air and ground assaults of government forces Wednesday in Barangay Mahatalang, Sumisip, Basilan.
Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares, police director for ARMM based in Parang, Maguindanao, said Philippine Air Force and the Army’s Western Mindanao command pounded the lairs of the Abu Sayyaf leader Furuji Indama in the hinterlands of Mahatalang , with rockets and mortars.
Elements of 3rd Scout Ranger Battalion under Joint Task Force came close to the lair of Indama, they provided the Air Force with accurate coordinates which enabled the F-50 bomber jets to hit the bandits’ camp.
The bomber planes, according to Mijares, were backed by artillery fires from the 8th Field Artillery Battalion which covered maneuvering ground troops.
ASG bandits were seen by Army binocular agents scampering for survival, leaving their dead comrades. he described
Remains of an ASG killed in the airstrikes and high powered firearms were recovered by ground troops.
Recovered from the ground include an m203 grenade launcher, recovered IED components. medical supplies and other war materials.
“We made it sure the air strikes and ground attacks come before daylight because we know Abus are known for putting improvised bombs around their lair and we don’t want to be maimed by their traps,” Lt. Colonel Montano Almadovar, commander of the 3rd Scout Ranger Battalion, told reporters.
The Army admitted Indama and his men’s location were provided by ASG members who earlier surrendered to the Army in Basilan.
Amadovar said communities around the ASG lair provided the much needed information for the successful operation.
In Basilan, 139 ASG members have surrendered to the Army with several others to surrender in the days to come. –Edwin O. Fernandez
