5 soldiers killed, 23 wounded in Sulu ASG encounter

COTABATO CITY --- A police contingent was dispatched to Patikul, Sulu before dawn Saturday to help locate more than 20 Abu Sayyaf terrorists reportedly wounded in gunfights with soldiers on Friday.Five members of the Army’s 41stInfantry Battalion were killed while 23 others were wounded in the ensuing running firefights in Barangay Liang, Patikul that started at about 4and00 p.m. Friday.Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares of the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said Saturday combat-ready personnel of the Sulu Provincial Mobile Force are now inspecting vehicles leaving Patikul via roads that connect to Jolo, the provincial capital, and to other municipalities that are possibly carrying wounded militants. Investigators are also trying to identify the leaders of the group that attacked the soldiers there in Barangay Laing for them to be prosecuted in court properly, Mijares said.Local officials said no fewer than 20 Abu Sayyaf members were wounded in the encounters.The Abu Sayyaf operates in the fashion of the Islamic State.Reports reaching the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao indicated that the soldiers were patrolling on Friday afternoon in Barangay Liang in Patikul, Sulu when they were attacked from three directions by a big group of Abu Sayyaf gunmen.The reports said the group is led Hadjan Sawajaan, who is wanted for heinous offenses, including kidnappings and beheading of captives whose families failed to pay ransom. That is now being validated by investigators, Mijares said.The slain and wounded soldiers belong to a team led by 2Lt. Michael Vincent Benito of 44thIB, according to reports received by PRO-ARMM.