January 26, 2002, The Philippine Star, Soldiers, Sayyaf clash in Basilan; scores wounded,

January 26, 2002, The Philippine Star, Soldiers, Sayyaf clash in Basilan; scores wounded,

Fighting erupted anew yesterday between troops of the elite Philippine Army and Abu Sayyaf bandits in a coastal town in Basilan, leaving four soldiers wounded and undetermined number of the rebels killed. 

The clash occurred as 31 more troopers of the US Special Forces arrived in Zamboanga City to act as trainors of Filipino servicemen under a joint military exercise. 

Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, commander of the military’s Southern Command (Southcom), said the firefight broke out when Abu Sayyaf gunmen ambushed a patrol of the Scout Rangers early yesterday morning in Tuburan town. 

Field reports said the Abu Sayyaf withdrew after engaging the soldiers in a brief shootout, but were intercepted by another unit of the Scout Rangers led by Capt. Harold Cabunoc, dealing heavy casualty on the bandits. 

The troopers recovered discarded backpacks and found bloodstains on the trail used by the Abu Sayyaf as their escape route. 

Fighting also broke out in the nearby island of Sulu, prompting the military to dispatch two OV-10 fighter planes to provide air support to the ground troops. 

Field commanders in Basilan reported there were no sightings of the three remaining Abu Sayyaf hostages, American Catholic missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kansas and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap. 

The Burnhams were seized by Abu Sayyaf gunmen who swooped down on the up market Dos Palmas resort in Palawan in May while Yap was abducted during a succeeding siege on a hospital in Basilan as the Palawan raiders fled pursuing soldiers. 

A third American captured in Dos Palmas, identified as Guillermo Sobero of Corona, California was reportedly beheaded in June, along with a number of Filipino hostages. 

The US and Philippine governments believed that the Abu Sayyaf is linked to the al Qaeda network of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, principal suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US. 

Close to 700 US soldiers are expected to arrive in Zamboanga City and Basilan for the joint maneuvers code-named "Balikatan 2002" with the Americans serving as advisers and trainers of the local soldiers. 

Officials of both countries clarified that the annual war games were being held under the aegis of the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) critics said use of the US troops in direct rescue operations for the hostages violates the Philippine Constitution. 

Washington also alleged that the US presence in Mindanao constitutes an expansion of the global war against international terrorists. 

"The reason I don’t want American soldiers to do combat is not because of constitutional parameters, but because it is Philippine government policy to let Phillipine soldiers do the fighting. It is not really a constitutional issue, it is a policy issue," the President said. 

AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Ediblerto Adan said "Filipino commanders will make all operational decisions and will control the activities involving the US troops. 

In an open forum during the 20th anniversary observance of the Makati Business Club, Mrs. Arroyo cited the reported entry into the country of suspected international territories, specifically members of the al Qaeda and the militant Jemaah Islamiah of Indonesia as among the reasons for the conduct of the expanded joint exercises. — Roel Pareño