More troops sent to Basilan

Two more Army battalions were pulled out from counter-insurgency operations in the Visayas and dispatched to Basilan and Sulu to beef up the troops running after Abu Sayyaf bandits in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, an Abu Sayyaf gunman was reported killed yesterday in a fierce gunbattle in Tuburan town in Basilan that also left four soldiers wounded.

A ranking military official said the move was part of a "realignment of forces" in compliance with President Arroyo’s order to ultimately demolish the Islamist rebel group which styled itself as freedom fighters but specialized in kidnapping for ransom and other terrorist acts.

The search-and-destroy operations were launched after the Abu Sayyaf lost their last three remaining hostages last June 7 in a fierce encounter with Army soldiers backed by United States Special Forces acting as trainers and advisers of the local troops in anti-terrorist warfare.

During the June 7 skirmishes on the outskirts of Sirawai town in Zamboanga del Norte, two of the hostages — American missionary Martin Burnham and Filipino nurse Edibora Yap — were killed in the crossfire, while Burnham’s wife Gracia, was rescued but wounded in the right leg.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a battalion currently assigned in rebel-infested Tacloban City in Leyte, was pulled out and sent to Sulu as reinforcement for the 104th Infantry Brigade tracking down the Abu Sayyaf faction led by Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot, and Mujib Susukan.

Andang and Susukan figured prominently in the protracted kidnap crisis in Sulu involving 19 foreigners and two Filipinos snatched from the upscale Malaysian resort of Sipadan on April 23, 2000.

A battalion of Scout Rangers was also ordered to join the 103rd Infantry Brigade under Col. Alexander Aleo which has been conducting the search and destroy operations in Basilan.

Earlier, the Army’s 14th Infantry Battalion was withdrawn from Borongan, Eastern Samar for deployment to Sirawai where the Abu Sayyaf faction of Aldam Tilao alias Abu Sabaya has sought refuge after fleeing the heat in Basilan.

Reports reaching Manila said an undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf bandits were also wounded in the two-hour firefight in Tuburan. – Christina Mendez, Roel Pareño, AFP