Islamic State’s claim over Basilan clash mere propaganda —Wesmincom

The Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Thursday downplayed international terrorist group Islamic State’s claim of detonating explosives on seven trucks carrying soldiers in Basilan.

Wesmincom spokesperson Filemon Tan refuted the group's statement, saying it is mere propaganda, a report by Raffy Tima on GMA News TV's News To Go said.

Tan stressed that the damaging of army vehicles is not that big contrary to Islamic State's claim.

However, Tan confirmed that there were improvised explosive devices which detonated. Vehicles were only lightly damaged by shrapnel and bullets.

AFP spokesman Brigadier Gen. Restituto Padilla was quoted by Reuters as saying the Islamic State claim was propaganda and its statement had "many gaps and inconsistencies."

"We lost only 18 soldiers but killed 28 Abu Sayyaf members since fighting began on Saturday. Our troops continued to pursue them and we will not stop until we achieve a decisive victory," he said.

As of posting time, authorities are questioning the authenticity of the statement published by Reuters. In the statement, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the clash between militants linked to the group and Philippine soldiers last Saturday in Basilan. Eighteen soldiers died during the encounter.

Meanwhile, Wesmincom confirmed that there are already 31 fatalities on the Abu Sayyaf Group side in the continued clash between the army and the rebel group.

The AFP has yet to conduct a formal investigation on the clash due to their continued operation against the rebel group.

Abu Sayyaf, a small but violent group known for extortion, kidnappings, beheadings and bombings, has posted videos on social media pledging allegiance to Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

The group has attracted foreign fighters from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa to the troubled south of the Philippines, home to a Muslim minority and several Muslim rebel groups.

But Padilla said there was still no evidence that Islamic State had ties with the Abu Sayyaf.

"We are still looking for proof to make a link," he said. "There is no direct link as far as we know and based on our assessment."

Citing an April 13 statement carried by Islamic State's Amaq news agency, SITE said the group reported only three of its fighters were killed and government forces suffered much heavier casualties.

"With the grace of god we were able to detonate seven trucks carrying soldiers," Islamic State was quoted saying.

The Philippines has pulled out the army unit that engaged the Abu Sayyaf on Saturday, replacing them with fresh troops, backed by artillery, tanks and aircraft, in pursuit operations.

The army said it had attacked a rebel stronghold on Basilan led by an insurgent for whom the US State Department has offered a bounty of up to $5 million.

Security experts and some media have criticized the handling of Saturday's initial encounter with the Abu Sayyaf, saying the military has repeatedly underestimated the rebels. —Kiersnerr Gerwin Tacadena and Reuters/KG, GMA News