'Marines pelted with bullets'

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines  – A junior Marine officer narrated how they were pelted with bullets by Abu Sayyaf snipers as they closed in on the Abu Sayyaf group of Albader Parad holding captive three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers.

At least 9 of the 19 Marines confined at the Camp Navarro General Hospital (CNGH) with injuries in the lower extremities from sniper fire confirmed the group of Parad suffered huge casualties.

2Lt. Vladimir Cabrera, commanding officer of the Marines Special Operation Platoon (SOP) code name Conqueror, said they tailed the group of Parad since the Monday encounter at Barangay Sionugan.

“We chased them all night until they set up their defensive (position). So we managed to move very close to their area,” said Cabrera, who was wounded in his left leg.

He said they managed to come within 100 meters and observed the enemies’ movement through night vision goggles.

Cabrera said they waited until dawn but the Abu Sayyaf noticed them and repositioned for defense. That’s when the firefight broke out.

“So we beat them to it. In fact, they were surprised, they didn’t realize we were that many inside their area. Many of their men were wounded and KIA (killed in action),” Cabrera said

“They could barely return our fire and that’s why we think a lot were killed from their side,” he said.

However, the Abu Sayyaf group managed to maintain leverage and hit many of them, mostly on the legs despite their position on higher ground.

Cabrera said the fighting was so close that he could hear some of the Abu Sayyaf militants groaning in pain and calling for help.

“They were very close, we could see them clearly,” Cabrera said.

He believed that Parad was with the group, and the bandits they encountered were the same faction engaged by military elements of the Light Reaction Company (LRC) who hit Parad last Monday.

Cabrera could not immediately say if they spotted the three ICRC hostages because most of those they encountered were clad in fatigue uniforms. Some were even wearing US military camouflage uniforms.