Troops clash with Sayyaf men in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Marines overran a lair of the Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf and inflicted the bandits with heavy casualty following an encounter in the mountain village of Patikul, Sulu, a military official said here.

Brig. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, commander of the Task Force Comet, an anti-terrorist unit in Sulu island, said troops have been trailing the Abu Sayyaf group led by Radulan Sahiron following the encounter last Saturday.

Habacon said elements of the 3rd Marine Brigade initially encountered 30 Abu Sayyaf men under Jul Asbi in the boundary of the villages of Pansul and Tanum where the group were holding camp.

Fierce fighting broke out as the troops pounced on the bandit group with artilery and organic weapons that include assault rifles, according to Habacon.

"The troops were able to inflict undetermined casualties but the fleeing Abu Sayyaf were able to drag away their casualties and retrieved the weapons of their fallen comrades," Habacon said.

Recovered from the bandits’ temporary camp were assorted ammunition and the identification card of a student from a college here.

Habacon, however, declined to identify the school for security reasons and to avoid preempting ongoing military operations. — Roel Pareño