BY MARTIN A. SADONGDONG
Seven suspected Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits, including the anticipated “heir” of slain emir (leader) Hajan Sawadjaan, were killed when the speedboat they were riding was rammed by a military vessel in a pre-dawn maritime encounter in Parang, Sulu on Tuesday.
Major General William Gonzales, commander of Joint Task Force (JTF) Sulu, identified three of the fatalities as Mannul Sawadjaan alias Abu Amara, who was declared to replace Hajan as the leader of the ASG; Madsmar Sawadjaan and Mujapar Sawadjaan, who were brothers of Mundi Sawadjaan, a notorious ASG bomb maker and brains behind some of the most gruesome bomb attacks in Mindanao.
The four other bandits have yet to be identified.
Gonzales said the encounter occurred around 2:15 a.m. when they intercepted the group aboard a speedboat at the open waters of Sulu Sea near the Sulare Island.
He said the bandits had plans to abduct “businessmen” prior to the encounter.
“May plano sila na mangidnap sa mainland, mga grupo ng mga kidnappers ito eh, pero tamang naituro at naisumbong ng mga civilian,” Gonzales said.
The JTF Sulu, augmented by scout rangers and special forces aboard a multi-purpose attack craft (MPAC) from the Philippine Navy and an Augusta attack helicopter from the Philippine Air Force, had a running gunbattle with the bandits while in open waters.
At the height of the firefight, the soldiers aboard the MPAC rammed the ASG’s speedboat, splitting it into half.
Meanwhile, soldiers aboard the attack helicopter peppered the speedboat with bullets using a machine gun until one-half of the boat capsized.
In the other half of the boat, troops recovered three M4 rifles and two M203 rifles.
Gonzales said retrieval operations on the bodies of the bandits were still ongoing as of press time.
He said they were able to identify two of the bandits through the help of informants.
“Nire-recover pa ang mga body kasi hindi pa nakita eh. Lubog kasi noong tinira natin,” he said.
Luckily, there were no casualty on the side of the government forces but the MPAC was damaged after it was hit by bullets, he said.
Gonzales said the death of Mannul and the other bandits was a “big blow” to the ASG.
