Headline
Military medical mission in Sulu disrupted by explosion
According to Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana three 60-millimiter (mm) mortar rounds exploded just 200 meters away from the Tanum Elementary School where the medical mission of the 6th Special Forces Battalion was taking place. (File photo by Mike Gonzalez/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
A medical mission being conducted by government troops in Patikul, Sulu was disrupted after three mortar rounds exploded near the venue on Saturday, February 16.
According to Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana three 60-millimeter (mm) mortar rounds exploded just 200 meters away from the Tanum Elementary School where the medical mission of the 6th Special Forces Battalion was taking place.
Besana said the military estimated that the mortar rounds have been fired 500 meters away from the school. The troops claimed that the explosion was done by members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) “to intimidate the populace from participating” in the activity.
Wesmincom chief Lieutenant General Arnel dela Vega said they “strongly condemned” the explosion which led to the disruption of basic services delivery to the public.
“They bring nothing but destruction that greatly retards achievement of peace and development in Sulu,” he said.
“This is another reason why we have to unite to put end to this menace in our society,” he added.
No casualty among those who were in the medical mission was reported.
On Friday, Brigadier General Divino Rey Pabayo, commander of the 11th Army Division and Joint Task Force Sulu, said four ASG terrorists were killed after engaging in a firefight with the 6th Special Forces Battalion in Patikul, Sulu on Thursday, February 14. The gunbattle ensued as the military caught up with the group of Monde Sawadjaan who is reported to be the nephew of Abu Sayyaf leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan.
The older Sawadjaan is the alleged mastermind of the two successive explosions that hit a cathedral in Jolo, Sulu on January 27 which claimed the lives of more than 20 civilians and troops.
