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By Anthony Vargas, Reporter
NEVER wanting to be outdone by
the elite Marine Corps, the Philippine Army on Thursday presented
their own set of heroes in the battle against the Abu Sayyaf (ASG)
bandits in Sulu.
1st Lt. Almirante Mijares and
Cpl. Raul Suacillo of the Army’s Special Forces Battalion
recounted the fierce encounter that they had with the ASG in Talipao,
Sulu, on January 16.
The battle fought for more than
an hour resulted in the death of Jainal Antel Sali Jr., alias Abu
Solaiman, the group’s chief logistic and operations man.
Sali Jr. also acted as ASG
spokesman and was dubbed as “The Engineer.”
Saucillo, who was given a
two-step promotion by President Arroyo on Wednesday, recalled
spotting Sali behind a bush just as the latter finished answering
the call of nature.
“He [Sali] looked so shocked
and scared,” Saucillo said in Pilipino. “I stared at him . . .
pointed my M-14 rifle and signaled for him to come toward me since
what I wanted was to capture him.”
However, instead of going toward
Saucillo, Sali Jr. scampered away while shouting “Allahu Akbar”
(God is great) in an attempt to warn the others of the presence of
government troops.
Saucillo said this prompted him
to shoot the fleeing bandit, not realizing the man was an important
person in the ASG hierarchy.
Intelligence information
confirmed that Sali Jr., ASG sub-commander, Albader Pader and two
Jemaah Islamiah members, Omar Patek and Dulmatin, were in the
area.
Troops failed to recognize Sali
Jr., since his face was covered by a mix of blood and mud. Mejares
said they washed Sali’s remains, took pictures, then buried him in
the encounter site.
Sali Jr. was later identified
from the pictures when these were shown to intelligence operatives
and captured ASG bandits.
The military said that Sali Jr.
had planned the abduction of 20 tourists, including US missionary
couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham, at the Dos Palmas resort in
Palawan in May 2001.
Sali was also the chief planner
in several deadly bombing attacks launched by the ASG in different
parts of Mindanao and in Metro Manila that left nearly 300 dead and
scores of others wounded.
Among the bombing that he had
planned was the bombing of SuperFerry 14 while cruising off Manila
Bay on February 27, 2004, and the near simultaneous explosions in
Makati, Davao and General Santos Cities on February 14, 2005.
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