2 Abu Sayyaf members in Sabah kidnaps killed
Credit to Author: AL JACINTO, TMT| Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2019 19:09:25 +0000
The remaining Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members involved in the 2000 Sidapan hostage crisis were killed in a clash on Tuesday with military forces, the Philippine Army announced on Wednesday.
Filipino Special Forces killed the two pro-Islamic State (IS) militants, including an Abu Sayyaf sub leader, whose group kidnapped 21 mostly European and Asian holiday makers 19 years ago on the resort island of Sipadan off Sabah in Malaysia.
Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, Army spokesman, said slain was Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Angah Adjih, who was among the bandits who took 21 hostages from the dive resort on April 23, 2000.
Abu Sayyaf member Sarih Edris was the other terrrorist killed in the encounter.
Zagala said Adjih and Edris were killed late on Tuesday afternoon during a combat operation against the terrrorists in Upper Binuang village in Sulu’s Talipao town.
The operation, which lasted 10 minutes, saw several gunmen escaping the assault.
The Army’s 11th Infantry Division led the raid with the 2nd Special Forces Battalion to take down the Abu Sayyaf after civilians reportedly provided vital intelligence that
led them to the terrorists’ lair the in the remote village.
Military troops followed directions that the residents provided and encountered five Abu Sayyaf members in the area.
A 10-minute gun battle ensued, resulting in the deaths of sub-commander Adjih and “another terrorist,” according to Brig. Gen. Divino Rey Pabayo Jr., commander of the anti-terror Joint Task Force Sulu.
“The people of Sulu are tired of the atrocities the Abu Sayyaf have been committing in their communities,” Pabayo said.
Pabayo added that no soldiers were harmed in the operation and lauded the Special Forces for the killing of Adjih who was “the last remaining Abu Sayyaf leader involved in the Sipadan kidnapping in 2000.”
After the hostages were abducted in Sipadan, they were taken to an Abu Sayyaf lair in Jolo, Sulu, and eventually set free after clashes with the military.
After the fighting on Tuesday, Pabayo said, soldiers recovered one M14 rifle and an M16 automatic rifle with grenade launcher, including ammunition.
Zagala said personal belongings of the bandits were retrieved from the encounter site.
The military had been conducting operations in Sulu after two explosions in January wherein more than 20 persons were killed.
President Rodrigo Duterte himself suspected that the perpetrators of the blasts might have been Indonesian suicide bombers, with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año echoing his claim.
In a separate statement, Lt. Gen. Arnel dela Vega, Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) chief, said, “The military continues to launch its offensives to neutralize Abu Sayyaf [bandits] in Sulu. Combat troops relentlessly pursue [them] and constrict their movement, leaving them in despair. As community support amassed, the military mounts its offensives to pressure and defeat the Abu Sayyaf in the area.”
“We are committed to end terrorism and to bring internal security to Mindanao. We also attribute our accomplishments to the Suluanons who are one with us in working for peace in the province,” he added.
The Abu Sayyaf is still holding nearly a dozen hostages, most of them seafarers and fishermen snatched off Sabah, and recently threatened to execute two Indonesians and a Malaysian if their ransom demands, running into millions of pesos, are not met.
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