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ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 5 March) – Three soldiers were killed while six others were wounded Wednesday in a roadside bombing believed to be the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Patikul, Sulu.
Captain Ma. Rowena Muyuela, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) information officer, said the troops were on a resupply convoy when the truck they were riding tripped an improvised bomb fashioned out as a landmine placed along the Pansul-Panglayahan road in Patikul 11:55 a.m. Wednesday.
Muyuela said the troops were to bring provisions to a group of soldiers guarding the implementation of a road project linking the barangays of Pansul and Panglayahan when the incident occurred.
No identities of the slain and wounded soldiers were immediately available except that they belong to the Army’s 32nd Infantry Battalion.
Muyuela said the wounded soldiers were airlifted to Camp General Teodulfo Bautista Trauma Hospital in Barangay Busbus, Jolo, Sulu.
Meanwhile, another group of soldiers have clashed against 80 suspected ASG members barely five minutes after the roadside bombing in Patikul.
Muyuela said the troops from the 32IB were on law enforcement operation when they traded fire with the bandits at Sitio Bud Bunga, Barangay Pansul in Patikul.
There were no reported casualties on both the government troops and the Abu Sayyaf.