Map of the Bud Bawis Complex in Brgy. Kawasan, Panao, Sulu province. (Courtesy of the Western Mindanao Command Public Information Office)
ZAMBOANGA CITY--A mid-level leader and a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) involved in cross-border kidnappings were killed in separate clashes early Friday in the hinterlands of Sulu, military officials said.
Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, Jr., Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, said the first encounter occurred around 5:45 a.m. Friday in Bud Bawis, Barangay Kawasan, Panamao, Sulu.
Vinluan said the 20-minute firefight broke out after the Marine Battalion Landing Team-1 (MBLT-1) troops chanced upon the group of ASG leader Hatib Munap Binda while conducting combat operations in Bud Bawis, Barangay Kawasan.
Vinluan said the firefight resulted in the death of Binda, whose group operates in the municipalities of Kalingalan Caluang and Panamao, Sulu.
Government troops recovered an M-16 Armalite rifle and one M-14 rifle at the encounter site, including Binda's remains.
Vinluan said Binda was a close associate of the late ASG mid-level leader Alhabsi Misaya, and was involved in series of kidnappings in the tri-boundaries of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
He said the second firefight took place around 6:45 a.m. Friday when a separate team of MBLT-1 troopers clashed against ASG bandits led by another mid-level leader, Sansibar Bensio, several meters away from the first clash site, while pursuing the fleeing followers of Binda.
Lt. Col. Marvin Salvan, MBLT-1 commander, said the 20-minute clash resulted in the death of Barahama Bensio and the recovery of an M14 rifle.
“Our good intelligence operations yielded to these positive results, and we are grateful that no one from our side was injured during the operations,” Salvan added.
Vinluan said Barahama is the father of Sansibar, whose group operates in the towns of Luuk, Omar, and Panamao, Sulu.
Sansibar and his followers, he said, were also involved in numerous kidnapping activities victimizing foreign nationals, including Swiss Lorenzo Vinciguerra, and Maharudin Bin Lunani and Muhammad Farhan, both Indonesians.
Sansibar was also involved in the kidnapping of several Filipinos, he added.
Maj. Gen. William Gonzales, Joint Task Force Sulu commander, said: “All the military units here in Sulu remain vigilant and resilient in eliminating the remaining terrorists who refuse to cooperate with us and continue to inflict terroristic activities in the peaceful communities." (PNA)
