by Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Government forces engaged the Abu Sayyaf in a fierce gunbattle in the troubled southern Philippines' island province of Sulu early Wednesday, leaving 14 bandits and a soldier dead and several others wounded.
The incident occurred the day after troops shelled a fortified camp belonging to the al-Qaeda-linked group and captured a jungle encampment.
Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command spokesperson Capt. Maria Rowena Muyuela said the early-morning fighting erupted after an undetermined number of heavily armed AbuSayyaf attacked a military-controlled camp in Patikul town.
The group was understood to be led by notorious Radullan Sahiron - described in military reports as a one armed, horse riding Muslim rebel leader - who reportedly took control of the organization following the death of previous leader Khadaffy Janjalani in September 2006.
Muyuela said the military fired back at the bandits using Howitzers, mortars and MG520 attack helicopters, forcing them to retreat at around 2am.
The raid comes in the wake of a local mayor asking U.S. President Barack Obama – on a recent visit to the Philippines - for continued support in the battle against "terrorism” in the country's' predominantly Muslim south. On the morning of his visit, an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement was signed between the two countries, which allows for a larger U.S. military presence in the country.
The Abu Sayyaf is understood to be behind the kidnapping of a Chinese tourist Gao Huayun, 29, and a Filipina resort worker Marcy Dayawan, 40, who were taken from a Malaysian dive resort earlier this month.
The group is also believed to be holding other foreign hostages, including two European bird-watchers abducted in the island province of Tawi-Tawi in February 2012 and Japanese treasure hunter Mamaito Katayama.
Muyuela said that no kidnap victims were sighted in the area during Wednesday's battle.
A statement from Brig. Gen. Martin Pinto, commander of the 2nd Marine Brigade and Joint Task Force Sulu, said that a soldier was killed and at least 16 others wounded - along with some Abu Sayyaf members - during Wednesday's fighting.
The initial Radullan Sahiron-led attack was on military-held camps in Lubo Hill and Kanjimao sub village, areas previously occupied by the Abu Sayyaf.
Sahiron - also known as Kumander Putol (Putol is Filipino for "cut," and can also mean limbless) - lost his right arm fighting security forces in the 1970s. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo heralded his capture in 2005, until the arrested man turned out to be a lookalike missing the wrong arm.
The U.S. government has promised a US$1 million reward for his killing or capture, the Federal Bureau of Investigations including him on its "Most Wanted" list. Sahiron is described as 5-foot-6, of slight build, with his right arm amputated above his elbow.
He is thought to be currently hiding out in the AbuSayyaf island stronghold of Jolo.
The Abu Sayyaf emerged in 1990 as a splinter group composed of former Moro National Liberation Front fighters and Filipinos who had fought in Afghanistan.
The group resorted to the execution of civilians, bombings, beheadings, and increasingly kidnappings for ransom. Abu Sayyaf had links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda in the early 1990s, but these links reportedly dwindled in the late 1990s.
Post-2002, the Abu Sayyaf leadership is understood to have established links with Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda affiliated group in Southeast Asia, and begun using the southern Philippines’ island of Mindanao for training and organizing strikes.
Abu Sayyaf are also understood to have established links with Rajah Solaiman, a radical Muslim group made of Filipinos from the northern Philippines who converted to Islam. Together, these groups carried out major bombings after 2003, including attacks on the Metro Manila that left 22 people dead and around 100 people injured.
It is also one of several groups that has been blamed for the 2004 Super Ferry 14 bombing - considered the worlds' deadliest "terrorist" attack at sea - in which 116 people died.
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