3 Abu Sayyaf men, soldier killed in Mindanao

MANILA: Three members of the Daesh-inspired Abu Sayyaf terrorists andasoldierwerekilledinanencounter on the island province of Sulu a day after Congress granted the request of President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte for another one-year extension of martial law in restive Mindanao.

Colonel Jerry Besana, the spokesman of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, reported that two members of the elite Philippine Marines and several terrorists were also wounded in the encounter that occurred in an island off the town of Patikul, Sulu at dawn on Thursday.

Besana said the Marines immediately launched “hot pursuit” operations against theterroristswholeftbehindtwom14riles from the encounter site when they led.

The Abu Sayyaf, meaning “bearer of the sword,” gained notoriety through a spate of kidnap-for-ransom cases that have often been marred by the beheading of their foreign and Filipino hostages.

The military also blamed the Abu Sayyaf and the Maute Group that pledged allegiance to the Daesh extremists in the Middle East for the deadly siege on Marawi, the capital city of Lanao del Sur province, on May 23, 2017.

The siege prompted President Duterte to declare martial law over the whole of troubled Mindanao, a move which the House of Representatives and the Senate extended for the third time in a joint session on Tuesday with effect from Jan.1 to Dec.31, 2019.

Congress supported Duterte’s argument that the extension was necessary to contain the terrorist threats as well as help sustain the growth and economic momemtum being experienced by many areas in Mindanao.

In a related development, a Metro Manila regional court convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment an Abu Sayyaf subleader for killing two people during a raid on the posh Samal island resort in Davao del Norte province in 2001.

The court in suburban Taguig City in Metro Manila aid it found guilty beyond reasonable doubt Hasim Alibasa Radjuli alias Husseim for the murder and homicide of a security guard and an employee of the Pearl Farm Beach Resort.

Court records showed that Radjuli was among the 23 Abu Sayyaf members who planned to raid and abduct rich foreigners who were known to frequent the posh resort as part of the kidnap-forransom activities.

But police said the plan was not completely carried out when the speedboat bearing the terrorists developed engine trouble and ran aground that led later to the arrest of Radjuli.