By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (AA) – Another five Daesh-linked terrorists, including a sub-commander, have been killed by government troops in a fresh clash in the southern Sulu province of the Philippines.
According to military officials, the latest encounter between the soldiers and the Abu Sayyaf militants took place in the town of Maimbung on Monday morning.
Col. Cirilito Sobejana, chief of the Joint Task Force Sulu, confirmed that Jaber Susukan, a brother of another Abu Sayyaf sub-leader, Idang Susukan, was among the five terrorist casualties.
“Jaber was one of the slain bandits and Idang Susukan was also seriously wounded in the firefight,” Sobejana said.
The military tagged the two as among those Abu Sayyaf sub-commanders who were behind a spree of kidnap-for-ransom operations of both locals and foreigners in the Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces last year.
In May 2003, their elder brother, Mujib Susukan, one of Abu Sayyaf’s key leaders, was killed in a shoot-out in Maimbung.
Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command, had said earlier that four other terrorists had been killed in a clash Sunday with elite troops between the towns of Talipao and Maimbung.
The military has recently intensified offensives against the Daesh-linked terrorists, mainly aiming to rescue the group’s remaining hostages.
Over 30 hostages are believed to be held by the Abu Sayyaf group. Last week, a German hostage was beheaded by the Daesh-linked terrorists. His body was found in Sulu.
