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Abu Sayyaf kill three soldiers, militiaman in Basilan battles
 [Mindanao Examiner] At least three Philippine soldiers and a militiaman were killed in fierce gun battles Tuesday with Abu Sayyaf militants in Basilan province. One civilian was also injured after being hit by stray bullets.Officials said the fighting broke out in Tuburan town where security forces are pursuing the Abu Sayyaf. No other details were immediately available, but the military previously captured two Abu Sayyaf encampments in Tipo-Tipo town and claim to have killed at least 45 militants – although no bodies have been recovered – in a month-long operation in Basilan. The clashes coincided with an Abu Sayyaf grenade attack on the residence of Catholic priests in Jolo town in Sulu province . No casualties were reported in the attack carried out by two men riding tandem on a motorbike. 5 troops killed in clashes with Abu Sayyaf [AA.TR] At least five Philippine troops have been killed in festivities with a ISIS-linked group as fighting resumed outside three towns in the Moslem south from which the military recently pushed back Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... myrmidons. Richard Falcatan, dxN0 radio station manager, told Anadolu Agency that three soldiers and two government forces of Evil were killed in two separate festivities Tuesday in the troubled island province of Basilan ...Basilan is a rugged, jungle-covered island in the southern Philippines. It is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, bandidos, and maybe even orcs. Most people with any sense travel with armed escorts... , where the military recently overran Abu Sayyaf encampments. He quoted Governor Jim Hataman-Saliman as saying that three soldiers and a militiaman died in fighting in Tuburan town, where the Abu Sayyaf reportedly fled after government troops captured at least three of their hilltop strongholds in Tipo-Tipo town last week. A second encounter broke out after Abu Sayyaf members reportedly fired on forces of Evil verifying reports on the presence of turbans in Sumisip town, leaving a militia volunteer dead and three others maimed. Meanwhile in the neighboring island province of Sulu, the Abu Sayyaf was blamed for a hand grenade attack on a Catholic convent in a dawn attack in which no casualties were reported. Posted by: ryuge 2016-08-24 |
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