 Army troops overran an Abu Sayyaf camp in the hinterlands of Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, the military reported on Tuesday. Col. Alfredo Cayton, commander of the Army's 601st Brigade, said troops pursuing the 60-man band of Abu Sayyaf No. 2 man, Isnilon Hapilon, came upon the bandits' lair in BaÂÂrangay Butril, used as an infirmary for wounded comrades. He said the bandits had apparently fled when the soldiers reached the camp, which was made of bunkhouses and trenches. Troops found rolls of bandage, medical packs and other medical paraphernalia at the camp. | And a big pile of soiled shorts. |
Pursuit operations are ongoing against Hapilon and his second-in-command, the foreign-trained terrorist Omar Janjalani, who had both been reported as among the 12 bandits either killed or wounded in a clash on January 7 with police agents and Army soldiers in Barangay Lomitan in Palimbang. The joint police-Army offensive under Cayton and Chief Supt. Antonio Billones, Central Mindanao police chief, was launched in response to the series of Abu Sayyaf attacks in December that left at least six villagers dead and thousands fleeing their houses. "There's no letup in the hunt for the bandits. Other units are looking for the bodies of HaÂÂpilon and Janjalani," Billones told The Times. | Go check behind the deserted factory down by the docks. Right around 3 in the morning. Tell 'em Steve sent ya. |
| I'll be very happy to hear that Isnilon is decomposing... |
Two of the Abu Sayyaf's top leaders, the brothers Bedis and Alo Binago, were also killed in the clash on January 7, sparking retaliatory attacks two days later by some 600 fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Mamasapano and Shariff Aguak towns in Maguindanao. Seven soldiers were killed when the rebels, led by one Abdul Wahid Tunkod, deputy of Umbra Cuta or Ameril Umbra, overran two Army outposts in Barangays Linantangang in Mamasapano, and Labo-Labo in Shariff Aguak. The military responded with mortar fire and air strikes, killing more than 50 Moro fighters in the biggest and bloodiest encounter since the two sides forged a cease-fire in 2002 ahead of peace talks aimed at ending more than 25 years of separatist insurgency in the south. | Guess it got un-forged...they're apparently beating the plowshares back into swords. |
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