by Roy Ramos & Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
A militia volunteer has been beheaded by an al-Qaeda-linked group in the southern Philippines, according to police Saturday.
Basilan province-based radio station DXNO cited a police report as saying that two militiamen were patrolling the vicinity of their outpost when around 20 suspected Abu Sayyaf members attacked them at around 5.40 a.m. (2240GMT) in the outskirts of Maluso township.
The gunmen reportedly shot and beheaded Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit member Daning Lumayon – taking his M-16 rifle and ammunition bandolier – and wounded his colleague Kilah Lumayon.
The station reported that the group clashed with army special forces commandos and militiamen shortly afterward, causing two Abu Sayyaf members to sustain injuries in a five-minute firefight.
Security forces are continuing pursuit operations in the hinterland of Mahayahay village, where the armed group retreated, while a team of commandos has set up a blocking force in the area.
Hundreds of villagers from Mahayahay – including 20 families -- fled their homes out of fear of fresh clashes between the Abu Sayyaf and government troops.
Last week, police tagged the Abu Sayyaf as behind two explosions that ripped through a mosque at their headquarters in the nearby island province of Sulu, injuring at least 12 members of the elite Special Action Force and three minors.
Sr. Supt. Abraham Orbita, provincial director of Sulu police, had told ABS-CBN that the incident was a retaliatory attack after police arrested several of the group’s members.
The Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.
It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to
