BY MARTIN A. SADONGDONG
The alleged cousin of Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bomb expert Mundi Sawadjaan was killed Monday morning in an armed encounter with the military in Patikul, Sulu.
Brig. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, identified the slain ASG suspect as Arsibar Sawadjaan, a sub-leader and a bomb maker.
Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Ruben Guinolbay, 45IB commander, said reinforcements were deployed to track the fleeing bandits.
“The enemies possibly incurred more casualties as evident in the bloodstains in the encounter site,” Guinolbay stated.
On the other hand, no casualty was recorded on the side of the government forces.
A military report said elements of the 45th Infantry Battalion (45IB) were conducting security operations
in Barangay Maligay when they were fired upon by about 30 to 40 armed men around 9 a.m.
This, after the soldiers received a tip from concerned citizens who spotted the armed men in the hinterlands of Patikul, which is a known stronghold of the ASG.
Gonzalez said the heavy firefight between the military and ASG lasted for 50 minutes before the enemies withdrew towards the east direction of the village.
Gonzales believes that the armed men are part of the groups of Mundi and ASG leader Radullan Sahiron, which the military has been hunting ever since they allegedly masterminded the twin bombings in Indanan, Sulu last August 24 that killed 17 people, including two suicide bombers.
Last week, the military also seized a lair of Mundi’s group in Sulu, which it said was an indicator that the troops are closing in on the notorious bomb maker.
Since September 20, at least eight members from Mundi’s group and two from Sahiron’s have surrendered after feeling the intense pressure of the military’s offensives.
“We degraded the terrorists’ manpower and capability to carry out their hostile plans and we continue to sustain the momentum to constrict their movements,” Gonzales said.
