Did GI shoot Basilan tribesman?

An American trooper allegedly shot and wounded a Yakan tribesman in a joint night operation in Tuburan, Basilan before dawn Thursday, two left-leaning congressmen charged yesterday.

Bayan Muna sectoral Reps. Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza claimed "an African-American soldier," whom they identified as Reggie Lane, shot and wounded Yakan tribesman Buyong Buyong Isnijal, 27, whom they described as a Muslim-Filipino "civilian."

But military spokesman Lt. Col. Danilo Servando denied there were any American soldiers involved in a night operation on July 25 that resulted in the wounding of Isnijal, the subject of an outstanding warrant of arrest for being an Abu Sayyaf bandit.

Servando said the lawmakers were twisting the facts to drum up publicity for a group of foreign activists they accompanied to Basilan to rally against US military presence in the country.

US Maj. Richard Sater, spokesman for US forces participating in the joint "Balikatan 02-1" exercises in Basilan, denied the two lawmakers’ allegations.

"We are denying it. We have not received a report. We would know if something happened," Sater told reporters in Zamboanga City.

This would be the second time US soldiers figured in a "shooting incident" after several US marines and Filipino troopers fired back at Abu Sayyaf bandits who attacked US military engineers who were building a road in Basilan on June 18.

But the military maintained that the two lawmakers were only using the incident to gain publicity for the "international mission" they accompanied to Basilan that was jeered by local residents.

The two lawmakers, who are in Basilan accompanying a group of foreigners opposed to US military presence in the country, claimed that Isnijal’s wife Jurida insisted that the soldier who shot her husband was "unmistakably" an African-American.

Quoting Jurida Isnijal, Ocampo said the American soldier, accompanied by two Filipino troopers, forcibly broke into their home while they were sleeping "and began shooting."

Isnijal claimed she saw around 30 soldiers around their house.

"Jurida had her flashlight out and she distinctly saw the face of the African-American soldier who carried a long firearm, perhaps an M-16 or M-15 rifle," Ocampo said.

"She described the man as around six feet, stocky in built and had a distinctly aquiline nose. He also wore a jungle fatigue bandanna wrapped around his head," he added.

Ocampo claimed the US soldier allegedly took aim at Isnijal and shot him in the left leg. When Jurida tried to rush out of the house to call for help, the US trooper supposedly grabbed her and told her to "shut up and sit down."

After cleaning his wound, Buyong Buyong was brought out of the house by the soldiers who also told Mrs. Isnijal she could visit her husband at the "Lantawan District Hospital" the following day, Maza said.

But Maza said their local contacts informed them that Isnijal was brought instead to the Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) headquarters in Zamboanga City for tactical interrogation.

Ocampo said in a press statement that the "incident" merited a full-blown investigation "as there is more than enough basis" to say that US troops had broken the "terms of reference" governing the Balikatan 02-1 exercise.

"Even if it wasn’t the American soldier who shot Buyong-Buyong, as the (Armed Forces Southern Command) now alleges, the American should not have been there in the first place," Ocampo said.

"Even if it was a legitimate military operation, the very attack is a human rights violation by itself," he added.

Military denies lawmakers’ tale

But the military dismissed the two lawmakers’ claims as "plain disinformation" that was part of a plan to gain publicity for their opposition to the Balikatan exercises.

"The militant groups are harping on this issue because they are coordinating their propaganda efforts in connection with the closing ceremonies of the Balikatan exercises (on July 31)," Servando said.

He said militant groups, including Ocampo, Maza and the group of foreigners, were organizing a "caravan" from Manila, Cebu and General Santos City for their planned rally in Zamboanga City against the Balikatan exercises.

"They are building the situation using the incident to dramatize their cause," Servando said.

Servando explained that the night operation was conducted by Charlie Company of the 18th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Canas in Tuburan purposely to arrest Isnijal but no American was involved in the operation.

"While the government troops were about to arrest him, Abu Sayyaf member Isnijal resisted and grabbed the M-16 rifle of one of the arresting troops," Servando said.

"In the ensuing scuffle, a member of the arresting team was forced to shoot Isnijal in the thigh," he added.

Servando further explained that Isnijal was immediately brought to the 18th battalion headquarters at Camp Uno in Tuburan where American medics were based.

Col. Alexander Aleo, commander of the Army’s 103rd Brigade based in Basilan, said the American soldier whom Ocampo and Maza accused of shooting Isnijal was actually one of the US medics who were at Camp Uno.

"The American soldier’s participation in the Isnijal case was only to accompany the wounded ASG member to the hospital for treatment," Aleo said.

The American medic, accompanied by two Filipino soldiers, brought Isnijal to the Lamitan (not Lantawan) District Hospital as confirmed by hospital personnel, Aleo added.

Southcom spokesman Lt. Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias said the night operation was conducted after two weeks of surveillance and that Isnijal was wanted for the murder of the council chairman of Barangay Bulanting in Tuburan.

Covarrubias also belittled as "illogical" the two lawmakers’ claim that American soldiers were involved in the operation and in the shooting because it was a "no-win situation."

"They (the Americans) are very strict and cautious because they know the repercussions," Covarrubias said. "And the AFP will not allow them to join the operation because this is a no-win situation."

"This is only part of their (the militant group’s) psychological operations," he added. — With Jaime Laude, Benjie Villa