ZAMBOANGA CITY, 7 January 2007 — At least six suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf group were killed in a sea gunbattle with government troops yesterday in the southern Philippine province of Tawi-Tawi, the military said.
The militants who were onboard a speedboat tried to escape from a sea blockade off Panglima Sugala town at dawn yesterday, prompting the troops to open fire, said the military’s Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said one of those killed, Judnam Jamalul, known by his alias, Black Killer, is among 17 Abu Sayyaf leaders and members, including the group’s chieftain, Khadaffy Janjalani, who are wanted by the United States for involvement in attacks on American citizens.
“Joint AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) units encountered ASG elements onboard a speedboat and after a 30 minutes firefight at sea, the group of Abu Hubaida and Black Killer was completely neutralized,” said a statement by the command.
Bacarro the bodies of the fallen militants were all recovered along with their double-engine boat and weapons.
In another operation, two Abu Sayyaf members who allegedly took part in an assault on a government hospital in 2001, were arrested in Zamboanga City, said the military.
Maj. Eugene Batara, another spokesman for the military, said the duo were arrested in a restaurant.
Batara said the two were involved in the seige of a government hospital in the nearby island province of Basilan where the gunmen took a nurse hostage. The nurse later died in rebel hands during a military rescue operation.
Also killed in that operation was Martin Burnham, an American missionary who was among 20 people kidnapped by the militants in the western Philippine province of Palawan in May 2001.
Another American, Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded soon after the kidnapping. Burnham’s wife, Gracia, was injured but eventually rescued by soldiers.
A US-backed offensive, launched last August, is still going on in Jolo island, north of Tawi-Tawi, to search for Janjalani and two cohorts, top Indonesian terror suspects Dulmatin and Umar Patek.
Dulmatin, who goes by one name, and Patek are suspects in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people and allegedly have provided bomb-making training to Indonesian and Filipino guerrillas. Janjalani was reportedly killed in a clash on Jolo and troops late December recovered what were believed to be his remains. US forensic experts are helping verify the identity of the body using DNA tests.
