SAYYAF CAMP DESTROYED

Military officials say 20 bandits were killed

Twenty bandits were reportedly killed as the Philippine Air Force’s newly acquired FA-50 fighter jets destroyed a camp of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sumisip, Basilan province, military officials said.

Lt. Col. Andrew Bacala Jr., Army’s 4th Special Forces Battalion commander, on Friday said the fighter jets “delivered deadly payload, inflicting heavy casualties to the ASGs.”

“The ASGs were shocked. They abandoned most of their personal belongings and left unfinished meal at their encampment,” said Bacala, who led a ground assault on Thursday.

“The supersonic jet’s swooshing sound may have sounded as a whisper of death to the ASGs,” Bacala added. Artillery and mortar fires followed immediately after the airstrikes.

Col. Juvymax Uy, Joint Task Force Basilan commander, said joint troops from the 4th Special Forces and 3rd Scout Ranger Battalion launched a ground assault against the group of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Furuji Indama in Barangay Pamatsaken, Sumisip.

Uy said that 4th Special Forces Battalion troops swooped down on the camp and engaged the bandits in a firefight just before dawn Thursday.

Bacala said the troops overran the Abu Sayyaf camp seated on a hilltop before 10 a.m. Thursday. There were 12 makeshift tents that could accommodate around 40 people.

“Heavy bloodstains were found in the vicinity, with intelligence reports saying no less than 20 ASG (members were killed) by the combined airstrike and indirect fires,” a military report said.

The troops recovered food supplies and bomb-making components good for 30 improvised explosive devices (IED).

The Naval Task Group Basilan conducted maritime interdiction operations to prevent the bandits’ escape by sea.

The military have so far killed at least 60 bandits across the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.