Gunfire hits Huey with US troops

ZAMBOANGA — Ground fire from suspected Islamic militants hit a helicopter ferrying US troops to a military base in Sulu, but all onboard escaped injury, the Philippine military said yesterday.

The aircraft sustained damage from bullets in Tuesday’s attack but landed safely in Jolo, the military’s Southern Command spokesman Maj. Gamal Hayudini told reporters.

"There is a possibility the attempt may have come from the Abu Sayyaf group," he said, referring to the Islamic militant group that has been involved in past kidnappings and murders of US citizens.

One of two US-made UH-1H Bell helicopters flying in formation took ground fire while over a village near the town of Indanan in Sulu, Hayudini said, adding that bullets had penetrated the body of the aircraft.

Members of the 104th Army Brigade, 1st Light Reaction Company and their US counterpart, and Hornets of the Philippine Air Force, were onboard the choppers that came under hostile fire at about 2:50 p.m. Tuesday.

The helicopters, flown by Filipino military pilots, were ferrying unnamed US military personnel back to a military base in Jolo from a medical mission in Indanan.

Hayudini said the area of the attack was a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, described by the US State Department as a "foreign terrorist organization" that was set up in the early 1990s allegedly with seed money from the al-Qaeda network.

Brig. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, 104th Army Brigade chief, said the attack occurred somewhere near the vicinity of Barangay Buansa, and that the military has dispatched soldiers to the area.

"We cannot also discount (the possibility that) the Abu Sayyaf could be behind this attempt. However, a mere bullet hole cannot bring down the helicopter," Pajarit said.

The Southern Command disclosed that the aircraft was piloted by Capt. Jose Edwin Galpon and 1Lt. Rodney Bajesta with security personnel of the LRC and US Special Forces, according to Hayudini.

Hayudini reported that the aircraft had also conducted aerial reconnaissance in the vicinities of Silangkan, Bud Purol, Bud Kapuk and over Jolo areas before coming under hostile fire.

In Manila, the US Embassy confirmed the helicopter was bearing US troops to Jolo and no one was hurt in the incident.

"I would like to make it clear that it was not a US helicopter. It’s a Philippine Air Force helicopter, but it’s US-made," Press Attaché Matthew Lussenhop said.

He said the Armed Forces of the Philippines would investigate the incident. "The AFP will investigate on the matter. It is for the Armed Forces to look into and follow up. There are Filipino troops there and it happened in the Philippines."

More than 200 US troops launched a month-long humanitarian mission on Jolo that ended earlier this week. — With Pia Lee-Brago, AFP