WITH military operations against the Abu Sayyaf Group still ongoing in Sulu province, the Armed Forces (AFP) announced on Saturday that the number of bandits killed in the now weeklong campaign has climbed to 24 dead and 24 wounded.
The announcement was made by the AFP Affairs Office chief, Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc.
Military casualties include two soldiers killed and 26 wounded.
Cabunoc said these figures were obtained from the military’s sources in Patikul, Sulu.
“Reports from our sources in the villages in Patikul indicate that the Abu Sayyaf Group is on the run and the bandits are running out of ammunition, even as the elite [Army] Scout Rangers are relentlessly tracking them down,” he said.
As of press time, pursuit operations in Sitio Baunoh Butang, Barangay Buhanginan in Patikul, Sulu, is ongoing.
Earlier, the AFP chief of staff, Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang, ordered the military to conduct an intensified operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and Sulu provinces.
As this developed, Catapang stressed that he intends to use both military and nonmilitary approaches to deal with the Abu Sayyaf problem.
“There is no purely military solution to this lingering social problem. I will commit troops to relentlessly pursue the armed bandits who are hiding in the jungles.
Another group of soldiers will work with the local government and non-governmental organizations in addressing the wide array of community issues that are also attributed to the existence of the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.
Catapang added that the military will involve different stakeholders in helping local governments deliver basic social services to the people.
He said he is considering the option to send more troops to help flush out the Abu Sayyaf bandits still remaining in Sulu.
Catapang said the AFP, through the Western Mindanao Command, will support socioeconomic programs that will cater to livelihood, education and counter-radicalization as part of the military’s “Whole of Government Approach” of addressing the problem.
Priam F. Nepomuceno / Philippines News Agency