BY AARON RECUENCO
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FOUR soldiers were killed while 17 others were wounded in a fierce clash with suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group in Patikul, Sulu last Friday.
Major Arvin Encinas, spokesman of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command, said troops from the 6th Special Forces Battalion were conducting combat operations in Sitio Lagaron in Barangay Kan-Ague at 8:30 a.m. when they chanced upon heavily armed ASG men, triggering a firefight.
He said the soldiers clashed with more or less 40 armed men.
“The firefight lasted for about 40 minutes and the enemy scampered towards southeast direction,” said Encinas.
Two ASG members were killed in the clash.
Sulu, as well as Basilan, is a known stronghold of the ASG. It has also been the site of many fierce clashes between soldiers and the ASG.
Eleven soldiers were killed while 14 others were wounded in an encounter with the ASG in Patikul last April. The 40 ASG members that the soldiers encountered were believed to be under Radullan Sahiron and Hatib Hadjan Sawadjaan.
