MikeLigalig.com

By Teofilo P. Garcia

Three of the Abu Sayyaf bandits responsible for the bomb attacks that left 15 people dead in Isabela City, Basilan on April 13 were killed by pursuing government forces in a 15-minute firefight Friday evening, a top military official said Saturday.

Two of the soldiers were wounded in the gun battle that broke out at around 7:09 p.m. in Barangay Mazola, this city, Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, Naval Forces Western Mindanao and Task Force Trillium chief, said.

Pama said the firefight took place when the troops, who have been continuously pursuing the Abu Sayyaf bombers, caught up with the fleeing bandits in Barangay Mazola.

He added that the recovered remains of the slain bandits were turned over to the local officials for decent burial.

Pama said the rest of the bandits managed to escape.

He said the troops recovered a Squad Automatic Weapon, an M-16 Armalite rifle and an M-14 rifle with several rounds of ammunition from the possession of the slain bombers.

The slain terrorists were still dressed in Special Action Force (SAF) uniforms which they used in disguising themselves as policemen when they carried out the bomb attacks in the downtown area.

The recovered high-powered firearms, ammunition and the uniforms were presented by Pama to reporters in a press conference Saturday at Camp Luis Biel II that houses the headquarters of the 1st Marine Brigade in this city.

Meanwhile, Pama said that more than an hour before the firefight erupted, the troops from the Marine Battalion Landing Team-1 (MBLT-1) had detonated an improvised bomb in Barangay Upper Maligue, this city.

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