Philippine troops kill 2 in clash

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Two al-Qaida-linked gunmen were killed in a clash with government soldiers on Saturday in Basilan province where suspected militants bombed a lodging house last week, a top military official said.

The remains of the two slain bandits were turned over to the officials of Macalang village for proper disposition. Army chief Lieutenant General Arturo Ortiz named one of the slain terrorists as Aslumin Manaba.

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Ortiz said troops from the Army’s 4th Scout Ranger Battalion were on a combat operation when they engaged a group of 15 Abu Sayyaf bandits.

Basilan provincial military commander Colonel Alex Macario said the firefight broke out at 6:15 a.m. Saturday in Sitio Buug, Macalang village, Al-Barka town, killing two militants and wounding three government soldiers.

Macario said recovered were three M-16 Armalite rifles, an M-14 rifle and an M-203 grenade launcher, which were abandoned by the Abu Sayyaf bandits, who were led by led by Nurhassan Jamiri.

Jamiri’s group is allegedly behind the kidnapping of Filipino-Chinese businessman Largio Tam Delos Santos last December 16 at Farmland Resort in Lanote, Isabela City, the province capital, said Macario.

Macario said intelligence reports indicate that Abu Sayyaf has been planning to bomb a church, small hotels and gas stations in Basilan, about 550 miles (880 kilometers) south of Manila.

Last week, no one was injured when a homemade bomb destroyed a lodging house in Lamitan township, north of Al Barka.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has linkages with the al-Qaeda network and with the Southeast Asian regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah, is behind a number of high profile bombings, kidnappings and other attacks for over a decade. (Bong Garcia/VR/AP/Sunnex)