37 killed in Sulu clashes, says MNLF

Fierce fighting between members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu has subsided, but the death toll from both sides February 4 reached nearly 40. According to Habib Mujahab Hashim, chief of the MNLF’s Islamic Command Council, about 20 of their men, including a field commander, have died in clashes with the Abu Sayyaf in the jungles of Patikul, Sulu. Of the total, 7 of them were beheaded, he said. Hashim said the unarmed men they dispatched to the site of encounter to gather vital information reported to him that 17 Abu Sayyaf were also killed. Hostilities began February 2, following the release of two Filipinos who went to Sulu in June 2012 with Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani. The foreign journalist is still being held captive by the Abu Sayyaf.


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