Abu Sayyaf kills police intel officer in Basilan

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels fatally shot a police intelligence officer who was on a mission to spy on a guerrilla leader in a far-flung town in Basilan last Monday, the police said.

Efren Dulot was with a civilian informant when he was gunned down by a group of men in the village of Lower Sinangkapan in Tuburan town late Monday, the police said.

The attackers fled with Dulot’s pistol, watch, cellular phone, wallet and motorcycle, the police said. It was not clear if Dulot’s companion was wounded.

The police intelligence director, Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan, said Dulot, a long-time intelligence officer, was spying on an Abu Sayyaf leader when he was slain. He refused to name the rebel leader.

Meanwhile, an Abu Sayyaf rebel was killed while a US-trained member of the 6th Scout Ranger Company was wounded in an encounter in a remote village in Guindolongan, Maguindanao last Tuesday.

Col. Franklin del Prado, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the wounded soldier, Sgt. Nenito Tuazon, and his companions were advancing toward the hideout of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafy Janjalani when the rebels fired at them, resulting in a running gunbattle.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for deadly bombings and kidnappings for ransom, has been loosely linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network and is on a US list of terrorist organizations.

The guerrillas were displaced from their main Basilan jungle strongholds by US-backed military offensives in recent years and scattered on nearly Sulu island and outlying provinces. — AP, John Unson and Roel Pareño