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December 12, 2005
Philippines: Two Soldiers Killed in Islamist Gunfight
We reported on the incident on the Philippines island of Jolo, Sulu province, from November 11, when a group of soldiers on patrol near the village of Buwansa were ambushed by a group of 300 Islamist rebels.
The incident led to a skirmish in which four soldiers were killed. The soldiers had encountered a group led by Radullan Sahiron of the Islamist terror group Abu Sayyaf. Sahiron is made distinctive by his having no left arm, and he rides a horse. He has a bounty on his head of 5 million pesos, or $90,000, and he has been involved with various atrocities against villagers he has deemed to be "collaborators". He is involved with 21 kidnapping incidents. Recently, the US, which is training Filipino soldiers on Jolo, has frozen Sahiron's assets.
Sahiron was fighting with breakaway members of the Moro National Liberation Front, or MNLP. We described earlier some of the background of the Abu Sayyaf group and its current links with rebels from MNLF who support its deposed and imprisoned former leader, Nir Misauri.
The fighting had claimed the lives of six soldiers by November 26, and had seen 25 wounded. On 25 November, 15 rebels were killed in a gun battle on the island.
Today, Channel News Asia reports that two soldiers have been killed and eleven wounded in an ambush near the town on Patikul on Monday.
The renewed combat involved a group of 50 Islamist gunmen. The total military dead since November 11, when the fighting began, is nine, with 38 wounded.
Keywords: Radullon Sahiron, Radullan Sahiron, Radilon Sahiron
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 12, 2005 11:26 PM
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