10 kidnappers killed in Zamboanga shootout

MANILA, Philippines - Nine members of a kidnap gang and their leader were killed and two policemen were wounded in a shootout in Zamboanga-Sibugay last Thursday.

The slain kidnap gang leader was Kamsa Asdanal. His son, Omar, also died in the shootout in Barangay Kalianta, Naga town.

Wounded were Police Inspector Philmore Demagat and Police Officer 1 Jesus Dumadaog.

Troops and police were out to serve a warrant of arrest for kidnapping on Asdanal when the shootout started, according to Zamboanga Peninsula police director Chief Superintendent Elpedio de Asis.

Recovered from the slain kidnappers were an M79 grenade launcher, four Garand rifles and two M14 rifles.

Asdanal and his men were tagged for a series of kidnappings in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

They were also engaged in extortion and highway robbery on bus firms operating in Western Mindanao.

Brig. Gen. Santiago Baluyot, Army 102nd Brigade commander, said the fighting lasted for about four hours after the kidnappers tried to repel the security forces.

Police and soldiers encountered more or less 50 fully armed men in bunkers, he added.  At least six houses were burned after an electrical power box was hit by gunfire, Baluyot said.

Asdanal’s gang’s latest victim was Marycris Cuartocruz, who was kidnapped on Dec. 14 and released last March after paying a P1.3-million ransom, according to Chief Superintendent Feliciano Khu of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations, Western Mindanao.