MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — Philippine Army Commander Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año on Thursday, September 1 said that three more battalions are expected to arrive in Sulu province to help government forces in the ongoing campaign to eliminate the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).
Año, however, did not comment on whether the 63rd Infantry Battalion, which arrived in Sulu Wednesday, was among the three battalions that will reinforce military units in Sulu. The 63rd Infantry Battalion is one of the field units of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan, Samar.
According to reports, some 5,000 soldiers were in Sulu and another 2,500 in Basilan.
Last august 29, about 15 troopers were killed and 12 others were wounded after military units clashed heavily with ASG bandits, headed by Radullan Sahiron, in Sitio Kan Jalul, Barangay Maligay, Patikul, Sulu.
A total of 30 terrorists was reported to have been killed.
The offensive was the offshoot of the bandit group’s beheading of 18-year-old Patrick Jhames Almodavar last week after his family failed to raise a PHP1 million ransom.
