SULU UPDATES

SULU INCIDENTS

October 3, 2006

• Istiada BHT Oemar Sovie along with her children Alih 8 and Edar 6 were arrested in Barangay Sanda, Patikul Sulu.

• Sovie is the wife of Dulmatin, an Indonesian bomb expert and member of Jemaah Islamiyah who is now working closely with the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu. Source: Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, 3^rd Marine Brigade Commander

October 4, 2006

• Bongkaong Barangay Councilor Bubak Omadjadi was forcibly taken in his residence around 8am allegedly by uniformed personnel.

• Omadjadi’s headless body was discovered near his house around 5pm of the same day.

• Bongkaong is an adjacent barangay to Sanda where Sovie was arrested.

• Military claimed Omadjadi was executed by the group of Dulmatin for helping the authorities that led to Sovie’s arrest.

• However, Omadjadi’s brother, a barangay captain in the area claimed that military personnel were responsible for the beheading since only Scout Rangers are the only unit operating in their village. Sources: Jose Manuel Mamauag, regional director Commission on Human Rights Western Mindanao, Atty. Jinmar Abdurasad, Public Attorney’s Office (PAO-SULU), Sr. Supt. Ahirum Ajirim, Sulu Provincial Police Director

October 8, 2006

• Six Scout Rangers (7^th Scout Rangers Coy) were wounded in a ferocious encounter in Mount Tunggol, Patikul Sulu around 9:30pm. Source: Brig. Gen. Reynaldo Sealana, 104^th Army Brigade Commander

October 11, 2006

• Two Scout Rangers (7^th Scout Ranger Coy) died while undergoing medical treatment at the Camp Asturias Hospital, 8 others wounded after an hour clash with the Abu Sayyaf Group in Mount Sinumaan, Patikul Sulu around 7:30am. Source: Lt. Col. Pablo Lorenzo, 35^th Infantry Battalion Commander.

October 15, 2006

• An improvised explosive device (IED) went off Sunday night (7:10pm) inside the compound of the Sulu Provincial Police Headquarters known as Camp Asturias, in Asturias Street, Jolo town Sulu.
• Three persons were injured identified as Lolita Bernardo 55, her daughter Geraldine 20 and a bystander Hatta Jilah Junior 26 years old.
• The bomb exploded was placed in the middle of the alley separating the walls of PeaceKeepers' Inn and Camp Asturias Hospital of the Western Mindanao Command.
• The said compound houses the Sulu Water District, the military's hospital, a radio station of Radyo ng Bayan, a cooperative lodging house managed by the PNP, a Catholic chapel, a mosque and the main headquarters of the PNP.

October 17, 2006

• A USAID-Gem project manager Engr. Romeo Rivera who is connected with the Monolithic Construction based in Davao City was kidnapped along with his two personal friends also Engrs. Larry Bautista and Reynaldo Rubio around 5pm in Barangay Beid, Parang town Sulu.
• Aside from the three engineers, their driver Isidro Amarano, an employee of Sulu Governor Benjamin Loong was also included in the kidnapping.
• Rubio and Bautista are sub-contractors connected with the TerraSyme Chemicals firm based in Metro Manila.
• Reynaldo Sealana, commander of the 104th Army Brigade said one of the six suspects was identified as Bong Salih, a hired security guard by GEM project in Parang. He was with five other armed suspects when the four were abducted.
• The military launched a rescue operation to secure the immediate recovery of the four kidnapped victims and the neutralization of the suspects.