|
GOVERNMENT troops on Wednesday overran a camp of extremist Abu
Sayyaf group in Jolo, after a six-hour assault and preempted a
possible attack being planed by the group.
Brig Gen. Juancho Sabban, Commander of Task
Force Comet, said the camp was situated in Sitio Candinamon, Indanan
in Jolo and serves as the hiding place of Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan
Sahiron, and Jemaah Islamiyah bomb expert Umar Patek and other
members.
“Based on the information we have received
Radulan Sahiron, Umar Patek and around 200 ASG and JI staying in the
camp. I think they are planning to do something big so inunahan na
namin sila,” Sabban told reporters.
The operation started past midnight where
Marines’ Force Reconnaissance and Special Operations units, and
the Army Scout Rangers and Light Reaction Company numbering to 300
raided the camp.
The troops first fired 105-millimeter Howitzer
and mortar rounds on the camp followed by the ground assault.
No casualties were reported on the government
side but Sabban said the terrorists suffered heavy casualties.
The fighting ended at around 7 a.m. after the
terrorists abandoned the camp.
Initial search led soldiers to a bomb-making
facility inside the camp, which according to Sabban is manufaturing
the same kind of explosives used in bombings in Zamboanga and other
parts of Mindanao.
-- Jefferson Antiporda
|
