Military insists Abu Sabaya still in Sirawai area

TABIAWAN, Basilan — Notorious Abu Sayyaf leader Aldam Tilao, alias Abu Sabaya, is still in the general area of Sirawai in Zamboanga del Norte.

This was the statement made by military Southern Command (Southcom) chief Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina yesterday, as he said two Abu Sayyaf members under Sabaya were killed in an encounter with Philippine Army troops.

This statement came amid reports that Sabaya had escaped the military dragnet around Zamboanga del Norte a few days after Operation Daybreak resulted in the rescue of American missionary Gracia Burnham and the deaths of Gracia’s husband, Martin, and Filipino nurse Edibora Yap last June 7.

The military reported that they have whittled down the Abu Sayyaf and "constricted" them in one operation area.

Carolina said an undetermined number of Sabaya’s followers were also wounded in a series of military encounters that began at 2 p.m. last Sunday.

"During the first encounter, he (Sabaya) was not spotted. We are not sure he was there," Carolina said. Sunday’s encounter was the second skirmish between troops of the Philippine Army and the Abu Sayyaf since Operation Daybreak last June 7.

Recovered by the Scout Ranger Company from the site of Sunday’s skirmish were one m16 Armalite rifle and one Baby Armalite with an M203 grenade launcher attachment. There was no immediate report on casualties from the Abu Sayyaf, Carolina said, adding that the bandits have split up into two groups.

Since then, soldiers have captured one Abu Sayyaf member and killed two more. About 200 bandits are reportedly scattered in the southern provinces of Zamboanga, Jolo and Basilan – down from over 1,000 at the start of the intensified, yearlong offensive of the military against the Abu Sayyaf.

Carolina said he would prefer to capture Sabaya and the other five bandit leaders alive, but added that he doubts if Sabaya would allow himself to be taken alive: "We would like to get him alive, but, just like any encounter, we do not know. These are irrational people. They don’t want to be caught alive. What is important is that we get him. Our boys are really motivated because we are not going to leave that place until we get Sabaya."

"I think this (just takes) patience. We need patience. We need luck," Carolina said, explaining the difficulty involved in stamping out the bandits, who continue to elude the ground troops ordered to search for and destroy the group.

Carolina said Maj. Gen. Glicerio Sua, head of Task Force Comet which is pursuing the bandits, has cornered the Abu Sayyaf again: "What General Sua is doing is to constrict them in an area and set them up in a target spot. That is the strategy and we are succeeding. We are getting them."

While Carolina said the bandits’ tactic of splitting up in two groups is "smart," he added that the military has confirmed that Sabaya is with the group they are now hunting down.

"They are just circling around the area. We have put our men tactically in all the ridges and possible outlets," the Southcom commander said, adding that Sabaya’s only escape route will be seawards.

"We are also waiting for theme there (on the seashore). That is, it they manage to get out. That is why we are getting them one by one," Carolina said.

Government statement on Operation Daybreak

Meanwhile, incoming reports about Operation Daybreak showed that Filipino soldiers opened fire on the Abu Sayyaf without knowing whether or not the hostages were in the kill zone.

After a two-week search of the Zamboanga peninsula, an elite team of the Philippine Army’s Scout Rangers tracked an Abu Sayyaf band bivouacked in four tents beside a riverbank in a forest near Sirawai town, Carolina said, quoting a report by the commanding officer of the assault team.

According to the report, the lieutenant who led the team ordered an assault using "single-fire only at visible targets so as not to endanger the lives of the hostages, just in case the hostages were with the group." The assault team also refrained from using "indirect fire," such as grenades "unless the hostages were secured," the report said.

"Although surprised, the enemy put up a hasty defense, firing as they jumped out of their hammocks. They delivered a heavy volume of fire using mainly M203s (grenade launchers). The soldiers, however, were very careful in delivering their selective fire because there was still no sighting of the hostages," the report said.

According to the report, the first engagement lasted 10 minutes, with the combatants within 20 meters of each other, after which the soldiers reported a sighting of the American hostages to their team leader. Gracia Burnham was secured after another 15 minutes of fighting.

Gracia had been "just a couple of steps away from a makeshift tent," and was "wearing gray jogging pants, black sweatshirt and black socks. She had no shoes. Gracia’s husband, Martin, was hit in the back and was already dead," Carolina said.

Yap was found dead at the creek line about 10 meters from the Burnhams and "the searching team believed she was hacked with a bladed weapon, judging from the gaping wound that she sustained," Carolina added.

Department of National Defense (DND) spokesman Melchor Rosales, however, said he could not comment on the reports that Martin and Yap were killed in the hail of bullets coming from government troops.

Rosales also said the autopsy reports on Martin and Yap were not included in the statement the government will make on the matter.

Rosales, said, however, that the government expects to release a full report on Operation Daybreak today: "I do not know the (autopsy report on Martin). We will have to inquire whether there are such reports and whether we can get one," Rosales said. "We will have to wait until we can find out if there is such a report in the first place."

Asked whether the government is still interested in learning the truth about Martin and Yap’s death, Rosales said: "If there is any way of determining this, we would want to."

He said the delay in the release of the post-operation report was due to the unavailability of some of the troops who participated in the rescue, who are still in the field conducting pursuit operations against the Abu Sayyaf.

Both the US and Philippine governments have rejected criticisms that the rescuers had mishandled the rescue. President Arroyo said last week that "our military commanders made the right call. They made the correct call."

"There is no moral ambiguity here. No one should try to suggest that this was bungled or botched in any way. These guys were heroes and they were brave and skillful," US Ambassador to the Philippines Francis Ricciardone said.

The Burnhams and Yap had been held captive by the Abu Sayyaf for 376 days by the Abu Sayyaf when Operation Daybreak happened.

The account of the Sirawai rescue by Gracia will be given to the US government, Rosales said. – With AFP, Paolo Romero and Cecille Suerte Felipe