Abu Sayyaf shelter bombed

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Air Force planes fired rockets and dropped bombs at an encampment in Indanan, Sulu where Abu Sayyaf rebels have sought refuge from an intense military assault, officials said yesterday.

The military confirmed that more than 15 Abu Sayyaf guerrillas were killed in the ground assault that followed the aerial attack.

"Our troops on the ground reported that the terrorists suffered no less than 15 (fatalities) and many wounded," said Brig. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, chief of the Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade which is leading the offensive on Mt. Tumatangis in Indanan town.

The aerial and ground attacks were directed at the camp of Khaid Ajibun, a leader of the Misuari Breakaway Group (MBG).

Maj. Gamal Hayudini, information chief of the Armed Forces Southern Command, said the military utilized two S211 trainer planes converted into rocket-firing attack aircraft, and two OV-10 bomber planes.

Hayudini cited reports that some local leaders sympathetic to the MBG had appealed to the military to halt the air strike.

But Pajarito advised them to forward their appeal to the Southern Command.

The military offensive, which started late Tuesday, has left a Scout Ranger dead and eight other soldiers — a Scout Ranger and seven men of the 33rd Infantry Battalion — wounded.