Soldier killed, companions hurt in Sulu ambush

COTABATO CITY --- An Army private was killed while two others were hurt when Abu Sayyaf gunmen shot their vehicle with assault rifles late Tuesday in Barangay Tugas in Patikul town in Sulu.

Reports reaching the government center here of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said the slain soldier, identified only as Private Tawasil, possibly a Tausug, belonged to the Army’s 45^th Infantry Battalion.

Sulu is a component-province of BARMM, which also covers Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.

Tawasil and companions were on board an Army light truck that gunmen, positioned at one side of a road in Barangay Tugas in Patikul, ambushed at past 6:00 p.m. Tuesday.

Tawasil’s companions, Privates Morales and Molkeri, were wounded in the attack.

Responding soldiers from nearby detachments and personnel of the Patikul municipal police immediately rushed them to a hospital in Sulu’s capital town, Jolo, for treatment. (John Unson)