ZAMBOANGA CITY – Fighting erupted anew between government troops and the combined forces of the Abu Sayyaf and rogue members of the National Moro Liberation Front (MNLF) under Habier Malik in Sulu yesterday, resulting in the death of one Marine and the wounding of another.
Malik’s group suffered six casualties while four civilians were also wounded during the encounter.
Outflanked and outmaneuvered, the combined Abu Sayyaf and rogue rebels used civilians as shields to evade pursuing government forces in Kalinggalang Kaluang town, according to a military official.
Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino said fighting broke out when elements of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-11 (MBLT-11) attacked Malik’s camp in the vicinity of Barangay Pandan in Kalingalang Kaluang.
“We raided the area to search for Malik and his men,” Dolorfino said.
Marine troops recovered three M-14s, three M-16s and a Garand rifle as well as hundreds of rounds of bullets from the slain Moro rebels in the ensuing mopping-up operations.
Military teams have been dispatched to search for the wounded MILF renegades in Jolo and Panamao after intelligence reports said they were undergoing medical treatment in the two towns.
Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael, chief of Joint Task Force Comet, said elements of the 2nd Marine Brigade encountered Malik’s men and the Abu Sayyaf group at around 6 a.m. in the village of Pangdan-pangdan where they were reported to be massing.
“Fighting ensued but the enemies who were outmaneuvered by our troops coerced the villagers and used them as shields in their withdrawal,” Rafael said.
He said the rebels withdrew, bringing along their slain and wounded comrades, and then abandoned the civilians they used as shields.
Rafael said the civilians were wounded by gunshots coming from the rebels’ direction. It was not immediately known if women and children were among those wounded.
But those wounded were immediately airlifted and treated at the trauma hospital at Camp Bautista, headquarters of the 104th Army Brigade in Jolo.
Pursuit operations, backed by the military’s MG520 attack helicopters and naval support, were ongoing as of press time, Rafael said.
The encounter in the town of Kalinggalang Kaluang between the government troops and the retreating rebel forces was the second this week.
In April last year, Dolorfino, along with several defense and military officials on a peace mission in Sulu, were held hostage by Malik.
Although officials denied giving ransom for the release of Dolorfino’s group, sources within the military said the government gave a “token amount” to Malik and his group as “payment for the reception and lodging of the visitors.”
Malik has a pending warrant of arrest for his unprovoked attack on key military posts in the province early this year, leaving civilians and soldiers dead or wounded.
The MNLF signed a peace accord with the government in 1996 but diehard followers of its former chief, Nur Misuari, launched a brief rebellion in November 2001 in Jolo, leaving more than a hundred people dead.
Since then, many of the remnants of Misuari’s followers in Jolo have worked with the Abu Sayyaf.