ZAMBOANGA CITY—Gunmen believed to be Abu Sayyaf bandits killed an officer of the Philippine Marines in an ambush Tuesday in the island province of Sulu, where troops are hunting down the remaining leaders and followers of the bandit group.

                Meanwhile, a policeman was critically wounded and his wife died when two men riding tandem in a motorcycle fired at them Monday in Pagadian City, the capital of Zamboanga del Sur province.

                Joint Task Force Comet (JTFC) chief Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban identified the slain marine officer as Capt. Abduhari Sulani of Indanan, Sulu, and the commanding officer of the 81st Marine Co.

                Sabban disclosed that Sulani was onboard his motorcycle coming from barangay Buhanginan, Patikul, en route to Jolo, Sulu, when he was ambushed by the bandits.

                Sabban said Sulani managed to fight back despite suffering multiple gunshot wounds.

                Responding troops from the Army’s Engineering Battalion brought Sulani, as well as an alleged wounded bandit, to the hospital, but the Marine officer succumbed to nine bullet wounds.

                Sabban said Marine troops from Special Operation Platoon-5 scoured the ambush site and engaged in a firefight with one of the alleged ambusher-bandits that resulted in the death of the latter.

                The troops recovered from the slain alleged bandit a caliber .45 pistol and several rounds of ammunition, according to Sabban. The Sabban-led JTFC expressed its deepest condolences to Sulani’s family.

                Being a Tausug, Sulani “further exemplifies his valor and dedication by sincerely working for peace and development here in his beloved Sulu,” Sabban stressed.

                Meanwhile, Western Mindanao Police Office information officer Senior Supt. Mario Fermindoza disclosed that Senior Police Officer 2 Ahmad Dacula and his wife, Celestina, a government employee, was shot around 5:10 a.m. Monday at the national highway in Pagadian City.

Fermindoza said Wednesday that the Dacula couple was on their way home from a vigil when the suspects opened fire at them.

Dacula is assigned to the police station of Kalawit town in Zamboanga del Norte while his wife is a municipal government employee of Kumalarang town in Zamboanga del Sur. --B. Garcia Jr.

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