17 Sayyaf rebels killed in offensive

At least 17 Abu Sayyaf guerrillas were killed and several others wounded in the continuing offensive against the Islamist group on Pilas Island off Basilan, the military said yesterday.

A senior military official, however, confirmed that guerrilla chieftain Khadaffi Janjalani was not among those who were killed or wounded.

Army 1st Division commander Brig. Gen. Triponio Salazar said the guerrillas split into small groups after suffering casualties and injuries from air assaults and advancing military sniper units.

Salazar said they are also verifying if another Abu Sayyaf commander, Isnilon Hapilon who reportedly landed with Janjalani, was on the island.

"The troops confirmed Janjalani was not among the Abu Sayyaf that landed on Pilas. But they were sure the bandits suffered a big number of casualties," Salazar said.

He said the bandits managed to retrieve their casualties despite sniper fire.

Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) spokesman Lt. Col. Renoir Pascua also said the casualty figure was based on the accounts by Army snipers from the 103rd Army Brigade leading the offensive in Pilas island, around two nautical miles off Basilan.

The military suffered two fatalities and three wounded during the offensive.

Pascua said there were indications the bandits broke into small groups leaving a small squad to divert the offensive.

Troops were alerted in the coastal areas of Basilan and Sulu to prevent the fleeing bandits on landing in their areas.

The military launched the offensive following intelligence reports that Janjalani is consolidating his remaining forces in Pilas with Hapilon from Sulu.

Janjalani and Hapilon are among the four top Abu Sayyaf leaders wanted by the US government which put up $1-million bounty each for their arrest.

The other two are Hasiraji Sali, alias Jose Ramirez, and Jainal Sali, alias Abu Solaiman. The fifth leader, Aldam Tilao, alias Abu Sabaya, was killed by government troops in an encounter June last year off Sibuco in Zamboanga del Norte although his body was never found.

The Abu Sayyaf took a total of 102 hostages, including three Americans, in a year-long kidnapping spree that ended in June last year.

The bandits are still holding two Filipino women evangelists of the Jehovah’s Witnesses abducted last Aug. 20 when two of their male companions were beheaded.

Roland Ullah, a Filipino cook abducted along with 21 other people from the Malaysian island of Sipadan three years ago, is also among the remaining hostages.

President Arroyo had given the military a 90-day deadline to crush the Abu Sayyaf.

The bandit group, included by the US in the list of foreign terror organizations, has been loosely linked to the al-Qaeda network of international fugitive Osama bin Laden.

The remnants of the bandit group fled to Jolo following the conduct of the RP-US Balikatan joint military exercises in Basilan.