THE military started attacking three positions of the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan province on Sunday, a day after the bandits and soldiers figured in a daylong close-quarters battle that led to the death of 15 Marines and more than 40 Abu Sayyaf members.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), an office attached to the Department of Defense, which is tasked to look after the families affected by the ongoing fighting in Basilan and Sulu, said that soldiers began shelling the Abu Sayyaf positions near the triboundary of Tipo-Tipo, Sumisip and Ungkaya Pukan towns with 105 mm howitzers at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.

“At around 6:30 a.m. today, the Armed Forces bombarded Abu Sayyaf positions in those towns,” the NDCC said in its web site.

It added that all hospitals in Basilan remained on Code White, meaning all hospital personnel will be on a 24-hour alert.

The NDCC said the fighting in the province has already affected 1,791 families or 11,887 persons in 15 villages in the towns of Al Barka, Tipo-Tipo, Sumisip and Ungkaya Pukan.

In Sulu, the NDCC said that the situation remains “very fluid” as the military continues to conduct reconnaissance on suspected Abu Sayyaf lairs.

Meanwhile, the Western Mindanao Command chief, Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, said the morale of the Marines remains high despite the death of their colleagues and a helicopter pilot, whose gunship crashed during the clash.

“Although they have been hit, they still have high morale because they were able to inflict many casualties against the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.

Cedo said the soldiers killed 42 bandits during the encounter, while the military suffered 15 casualties and 17 wounded.

Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, Armed Forces information office chief, said that the clash started when Marines attacked the Abu Sayyaf camp in Ungkaya Pukan, engaging about 70 bandits in a close-quarters battle.

In addition, Bacarro said that the military will investigate the crash of one of the MG-520 helicopters that was providing air support to the Marines during the fight, as he initially denied the claim that it was shot down.

He said that according to reports, the helicopter encountered engine trouble while returning to headquarters to rearm.

Bacarro assured that fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have not joined the fighting between the Abu Sayyaf and the government, as they are keeping themselves away from the sites of the operations.

Earlier, MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal said the MILF is keeping its members at an area where the international monitoring team is also staying.

Cedo said the Marines in Basilan managed to inflict heavy casualties on the bandits and one of the suspects in the July 10 beheading of Marines, who were killed in an MILF ambush.

The intense firefight started shortly before 7 a.m. Saturday when  Marine assaulted the Abu Sayyaf camp in sitio Kurelem, barangay Selangkun, Ungkaya Pukan.

Of the slain bandits, only six remains have so far been recovered, including that of Puruji Indama, who was believed to be among the July 10 ambush and beheading suspects.

The Marine casualties belong to Task Force Thunder, which was organized to pursue the suspects in the July 10 ambush and beheading of Marines in Al Barka. (With B. Garcia)

THE military started attacking three positions of the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan province on Sunday, a day after the bandits and soldiers figured in a daylong close-quarters battle that led to the death of 15 Marines and more than 40 Abu Sayyaf members.

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