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| Southeast Asia |
| 3 dead in Sacol island fighting |
| 2005-10-18 |
| Two Abu Sayyaf militants and a government soldier were killed in fierce clashes Monday on an island off the southern port city of Zamboanga, officials said. Officials said three more soldiers were wounded in the fighting before sunrise on Sacol island, just several nautical miles east of Zamboanga. Government troops swooped down on Sacol island, following reports that an Abu Sayyaf leader, Isnilon Hapilon, and his men were hiding in the area, said Navy spokesman Captain Geronimo Malabanan. In an ensuing gunfight, a navy intelligence agent was killed and three soldiers wounded, while two guerrillas were gunned down, Malabanan said. The guerrillas fled, but it wasn't clear if Hapilon was among them, he said. Troops have recovered at least two bodies of Abu Sayyaf militants killed in the fighting, said navy commander Commodore Rufino Lopez. "We recovered two bodies and there could be more enemy casualties. The operation against the Abu Sayyaf is going on in Sacol," he said. He said navy gunboats were sent to seal off Sacol island and prevent the militants from escaping. A military report confirmed that the militants are followers of Hapilon, who is wanted by both the United States and Manila for the killing of two kidnapped Americans in the southern Philippines in 2002. Lopez said the fighting erupted before sunrise after navy and army forces raided a suspected Abu Sayyaf hideout on Sacol island, just several nautical miles east of Zamboanga. In April, troops also stormed an Abu Sayyaf hideout in Sacol and killed three gunmen. Aside from the Abu Sayyaf, the island is also a known lair of pirates and smugglers. Security forces are in heightened alert in the southern Philippines because of threats of terror attacks. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |