Philippine Army troops captured four Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) camps in a series of encounters that began Tuesday in Basilan, the military said.
Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc Armed, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office, said six ASG members were killed and six others were wounded in the clashes while no one was killed and injured on the military side.
A report on Mindanao Examiner identified two of the slain bandits as as Yusop Sandatan and Usop Balaman.
Pursuit operations continue in barangays Baiwas and Pamatsaken in Sumisip, as the rest of the Abu Sayyaf bandits fled to different directions, Cabunoc said.
Five improvised explosive devices were recovered by the troops, two from clash sites and three from the routes that the bandits took when they withdrew.
AFP spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla Jr. said the clashes started when troops from the Army’s 104th Brigade encountered about 50 ASG rebels in barangays Pamatsaken and Baiwas on Tuesday.
