Combined Army troops and Marines also recovered bomb-making materials from the camp at the foot of Mt. Bud Kapok, which was abandoned by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas retreating from a massive assault.
"Troops discovered signs of heavy casualties in the camp," military spokesman Maj. Mabini Abduhadi told a press briefing. Five Abu Sayyaf gunmen were found dead in the facility, complete with bunkers and underground shelters.
Military officials believe the camp was built only early this year and that the massive offensive may have disrupted the Abu Sayyaf’s terror campaign.
The operation was meant to flush Abu Sayyaf top leader Khaddafy Janjalani and his two Jemaah Islamiyah allies out of the jungle.
Among the Jemaah Islamiyah members believed to be hiding there are Dulmatin, who goes by one name, and Umar Patek, both wanted for their alleged role in the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
Alduhadi said troops have been encountering stiff resistance from Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
"That means that the terrorist leadership (Janjalani, Dulmatin and Patek) is believed to be still there. But it seems, though, the leaders have been able to slip through like a cat," Abduhadi said, explaining that Abu Sayyaf guerrillas are using their familiarity of the terrain to their advantage.
Local officials and residents claim US spy planes are helping government forces find the Abu Sayyaf.
US troops are not involved in combat operations but are helping in securing civilians. They maintain a presence in Sulu as part of counter terrorism assistance.
The Abu Sayyaf group, on a US terrorist list, is notorious for ransom kidnappings, beheadings and bombings, including a February 2004 attack that gutted a ferry in Manila Bay and killed 116 people in one of Southeast Asia’s worst terrorist attacks.
The United States is offering $5 million for the capture of Janjalani, who is in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s list of most wanted terrorists for kidnapping and killing US citizens.
Janjalani has long been the subject of a massive military manhunt. In 2003, he was reported spotted in Sultan Kudarat province, where he was believed to fled after clashes with government forces in Basilan, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold.
Janjalani is believed to be hiding in Sulu since October after escaping a military dragnet in Sultan Kudarat.
Dulmatin, who carries a $10-million bounty on his head, is an electronics specialist with training in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and is a senior figure in Jemaah Islamiyah.
He is believed to have been one of the masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia. Umar Patek, who has a $1-million bounty on his head, is believed to have served as the assistant for the field coordinator of the bombings.