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COMBINED
forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and
the Abu Sayyaf Group attacked a Marine detachment in
Basilan on Sunday, but the troops fought them, killing
two gunmen.
The
fighting, however, also left 10 soldiers wounded, the
Marines commandant, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, said.
The
latest encounter between government forces and the
combined rebel and bandit groups happened less than a
week after Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro sent a
Marine battalion to Mindanao, to help in the
anti-terrorism campaign in the region.
Dolorfino said the Marines, who were based in barangay
Tongbato, Ungkaya Pukan town, were attacked at about
5:45 a.m. by an undetermined number of rebels and bandits,
triggering fierce fighting.
The MILF
fighters were reportedly headed by a certain Commander
Hudlimaya.
The gun
battle was reportedly still ongoing as of 1 p.m. on
Sunday.
Dolorfino said that as the fighting raged, MILF and Abu
Sayyaf gunmen also ambushed a convoy of reinforcing
troops in barangay Matarling, wounding a Marine and
damaging a V-150 “Commando” armored personnel carrier.
Meanwhile, the MILF confirmed that another encounter
between the government and its forces also broke out
near barangay Baguindan in Tipo-Tipo town, also in
Basilan.
MILF
chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal accused soldiers of
starting the firefight by allegedly attacking the MILF
position in the area.
Iqbal
said the fighting was still ongoing as of 1 p.m. on
Sunday and has already forced the evacuation of several
hundred families.
Meanwhile, government forces seized bomb-making
materials believed to be owned by the Abu Sayyaf bandits
on Saturday in Indanan, Sulu.
The
bomb-making materilas were seized two days after Marines
found a marijuana plantation while tracking down the
bandits and the Jema’ah Islamiyah terrorists in Maimbung,
also in Sulu.
The
Joint Task Force Comet commander, Maj. Gen. Juancho
Sabban, said the bomb-making materials were seized
aboard a motorized banca when the Fleet Marine Team
raided Buansa port in Indanan town.
Sabban
said the 283 sacks of ammonium nitrate with an estimated
value of P849,000 were about to be unloaded when the
government forces arrived, while 50 pieces blasting
caps, a caliber .45 pistol with ammunition and a
handheld radio were recovered in a house near the port.
He said
the Abu Sayyaf’s involvement in the shipment of the
explosive components is not remote, saying that Buansa
port is near the bandits’ camp that fell into the hands
of government security forces in last month’s surgical
strike in Indanan.
“With
blasting caps, and the ammonium nitrate, which is the
basic ingredient of the so-called fertilizer bombs, it
is obviously meant for a terrorist action,” Sabban said
adding, “[A] blasting cap is a device that initiates the
detonation of explosive.”
Investigation is under way to unmask the people behind
the shipment of the explosive components, and once
established, charges will be filed against them, he
said.
Col.
Natalio Ecarma, 3rd Marine Brigade commander, said
troops from Marine Battalion Landing Team-4 (MBLT-4)
Special Operations Platoon was tracking down the bandits
when they uncovered the marijuana plantation Thursday in
barangay Patao, Maimbung.
Ecarma
said seized plants found in the 2-hectare plantation
were worth about P30 million.
He said
more troops were sent to barangay Patao to destroy and
uproot the marijuana plants.
The
uprooted marijuana plants will be handed over to the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for disposal, while
investigation is under way to identify who planted the
prohibited weed.
Earlier
reports indicate that the Abu Sayyaf bandits have been
forced to engage in drug trafficking as their usual
sources of funds have dried up. (With B. Garcia Jr.)
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