3 marines wounded in clash with Abu Sayyaf

THREE marines were wounded in a clash with a large group of Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the hinterlands of Patikul town in Sulu province in Mindanao on Friday, a military spokesman reported Saturday. Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan said the wounded belong to the 7th Marine Battalion Landing Team, led by Lt. Col. Martin Pinto. The marines were on combat operation at the village of Danag at around 11:30 a.m. when the skirmish broke out. Caculitan said the brief fighting inflicted injuries on three marines. On the other hand, Caculitan said the 40-man terrorist group withdrew after suffering undetermined number of casualties. The military has been pursuing for the past weeks the group of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and his Jema'ah Islamiyah cohorts, Dulmaten and Omar Patek, in the outskirts of Patikul and in the nearby town of Indanan. It was not immediately clear whether Janjalani, one of the five Abu Sayyaf leaders wanted by the United States, was with the Abu Sayyaf group encountered by the Marine soldiers. The US government has offered a $5 million reward for the neutralization of the five Abu Sayyaf leaders, two of them have been already slain by government forces in separate operations years ago. Last week, the Armed Forces public information office chief, Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, told the media that the pursuing government forces have sealed off the possible exit routes of Janjalani and his cohorts. - GMANews.TV