2 Abu Sayyaf dead in Basilan clash
TIMRA Reports • 16:30 PM Wed Jun 7, 2023
1
By:
John M. Unson
COTABATO CITY - Soldiers shot dead two members of the Abu Sayyaf in a brief clash in a secluded barangay in Sumisip town in Basilan Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command and Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, had separately confirmed the incident to reporters Wednesday and assured Basilan residents that their units in the province are guarding against retaliations by the group.
Nobleza, citing a report from the Basilan Provincial Police Office, said one of the slain Abu Sayyaf members belonged to a group led by Mudrimar Sawadjaan while the other was a follower of Pasil Bayali.
They were killed in a clash with personnel of the Army’s 64th Infantry Battalion, backed by the local police force and volunteer community watchmen under the Sumisip municipal government in Barangay Pamatsaken in Sumisip, one of the 11 towns in Basilan.
Sawadjaan and Bayali are the remaining leaders of about 30 remaining Abu Sayyaf members roaming in hinterlands in Basilan, according to Galido.
More than 300 Abu Sayyaf members in Basilan have, since 2016, surrendered in batches through the joint intercession of local government units, the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade, the municipal police forces and officials of the Basilan Provincial Police office.