According to the military, 10 Abu Sayyaf terrorists were killed in Patikul, Sulu, on Jan. 18. But an official disclosed that five of the dead were actually MNLF members and that the other fatalities include a 12-year-old boy and a 90-year-old man who angrily stormed a Marine camp after the killing of two relatives, but was shot even before he could approach the entrance.

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY – On Jan. 18, the Philippine military announced that 10 alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group had been killed in separate encounters in Sulu province. The government later said that this was yet another boost to the campaign against terrorism.

But a public official in Jolo, the capital of Sulu, who is also an organizer for a human-rights group, belied those claims on Friday, saying that five of the fatalities were actually members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Worse, according to Temugen Tulawie, a councilor of Jolo town, among those killed were a 90-year-old man, and a mini-bus driver and his 12-year-old son.

In fact, the old man, identified as Sarail Jaynaltul, was shot not in an encounter but when he stormed a Marine camp in indignation over the death that same day of his grandson and son-in-law, Tulawie said.

According to the official, Jaynaltul was shot and killed by the Marines even before he could come near the camp. All the old man had, Tulawie told davaotoday.com on the phone from Jolo, was a stick.

That same day, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commended the Armed Forces of the Philippines “for another milestone in the campaign against terror,” referring to the continuing military offensives in Sulu and the announcement the day earlier of the death of Abu Sulaiman, one of the Abu Sayyaf’s more notorious leaders. (See boxed item)

She vowed to continuing using what she called the “hands of steel” to eliminate the Abu Sayyaf.

Abu Sayyaf if one of Southeast Asia’s most dangerous terror groups responsible for some of the most horrific attacks in the country. The group had likewise banded together with the Jemaah Islamiyah, a terror network founded in Indonesia; two of Jemaah Islamiyah’s operatives, according to officials, are being protected by the Abu Sayyaf. One of these operatives, the Indonesian Dulmatin, has been injured in a shootout with troops, the military said on Friday.

Tulawie said the first incident on Jan. 18 happened at around 12 noon, when an exchange of gunfire broke out in Tandu Bato, a hamlet in the village of Timpok, in Patikul town. When the smoke cleared, three people whom Tulawie said were MNLF members and three Marines were dead.

“They were shooting at each other at very close range, about three to five meters, that their blood even mixed on the ground,” Tulawie said.

The three dead MNLF members were identified as Almujir Karain, 21, Ibno Karain, 50 and Ablayan Sahidda, 37. Tulawie said villagers had told him that the three were mixing cement for their house when the soldiers came by.

Before the incident, Tulawie said, the villagers saw about 30 Marines walk by the village. Some were even humming tunes and waving at the people as they passed by, he added.

Tandu Bato, according to Tulawie, is only about half a kilometer away from a Marine camp.

Tulawie said the military had declared the incident as “a legitimate military operation” against the Abu Sayyaf, claiming that the attack on the house in Tandu Bato was based on intelligence information they had gathered that said the bandits had scheduled a gathering there that day.

The incident, Tulawie said, had struck fear in the hearts of residents. “People have told me that they fear that they could now be targets of military attacks on mere suspicion that they welcomed the Abu Sayyaf in their villages,” Tulawie said.

The second incident that day happened minutes after the Tandu Bato incident, when a Tamaraw mini-bus was allegedly shot at by the Marines along the main road between the villages of Timpok and Pansul. Five of the eight persons inside the vehicle were killed, Tulawie said.

The fatalities were Muammal Julali, 35, the owner and driver of the vehicle; his 12-year-old son Rodimar; Kaddam Usman, 50, and his son Taib, 21; and one Jun Samsola, 30. The two Usmans were likewise MNLF members.

According to testimonies that Tulawie said he and his human-rights group, the Jaga Lupa Sug, had gathered, the young Usman left Tandu Bato, the site of the previous incident, looking for his father Kaddam.

When told by his son of the Tandu Bato shooting, the elder Usman feared for their safety so he decided instead that they should go to downtown Jolo for the time being. They then boarded the mini-bus.

For reasons that Tulawie could not yet ascertain, Julali, the driver, did not stop at the Marine checkpoint along the road. The soldiers, he said, fired on the vehicle.

That same afternoon, Jaynaltul, learning of the death of the Usmans, angrily stormed the Marine camp and was shot even before he could be near the gate, Tulawie said. Jaynaltul later died in Tandu Bato.

One of the mini-bus passengers named Walki Atloih was taken by the Marines after the incident. Two others who were in the Tamaraw vehicle who survived were only identified as Makdoni, 19, and Datu Otsoy.

Tulawie said Atloih has been with the military since the incident and has issued statements saying that the five persons killed in the vehicle were members of the Abu Sayyaf and that he himself was also a member of the group.

Tulawie said residents of Patikul have told him that they had known Atloih “to be a person close to the Marines” and that he was often seen drinking with the soldiers.

In fact, Tulawie said, Atloih has often done chores and errands for Filipino and American troops in Sulu, such as doing construction and other menial jobs inside the military camps. Atloih, according to Tulawie, is said to be close to the young Usman.

But residents, Tulawie said, could attest that the Usmans were members of the MNLF. In fact, Tulawie said, they had appointment papers signed by no less than MNLF chairman Nur Misuari himself.

The families of the victims have reportedly sought the help of the MNLF leader in Sulu, Ustadz Khabbir Malik.

Hundreds of US military personnel have been stationed in Sulu, helping Filipino troops defeat the Abu Sayyaf and implementing what the US government had called livelihood projects. (See boxed item). Cheryll D. Fiel/davaotoday.com/ Posted by (Bulatlat.com)