operation, the Philippine president ordered search-and-destroy operations against Muslim guerrillas on Saturday June 8.
"We will forge on with tenacity until the Abu Sayyaf is finished," the Reuters news agency quoted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as saying after Martin Burnham, 42, was killed and his wife Gracia, 43, rescued by Philippine troops in a gun battle with the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
Filipina nurse Deborah Yap, another hostage held captive over a year, was also killed in the clash in the in jungle on southern Mindanao island. BosNewsLife learned earlier that the bloody encounter between the Philippine Army’s 44th Infantry Battalion and members of the Abu Sayyaf Group erupted as early as Thursday evening June 6.
REBELS KILLED
Four members of the Abu Sayyaf group were also reportedly killed while 7 scout rangers pursuing the kidnappers were injured and were immediately airlifted by pavehawk choppers to Southcom hospital.
BosNewsLife’s Correspondent in the region, Noel T. Tarrazona said that fire shots were still being heard throughout Friday June 7 "by nearby residents in the vicinity." There were no reports about further clashes in the area Saturday June 8, and investigators began verifying whether the two hostages were killed by their captors or in crossfire.
American officials were also expected to perform an autopsy on the body of Martin Burnham, which was flown to Okinawa on Friday, June 7, to see who fired the fatal shots. "Probably they were caught in the crossfire but as to who squeezed the trigger first that’s what we don’t know," military spokesman Brigadier General Eduardo Purificacion told reporters.
HUMAN SHIELDS
The army, which has been criticized for past failures, suggested that the civilians may have been used as human shields, and that this hampered rescue operations. "In the past, the military always had to hold their fire because of the hostages. Now, they can really do a hot pursuit," confirmed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The grieving Kansas family of Martin Burnham seemed to welcome Philippine government efforts to wipe out the rebels who held the couple hostage in the wilderness for one year and 11 days.
"This is a terrorist group that has been hurting the Philippine people for a long time…we hope they will be able to eradicate this kidnap-for-ransom gang and take care of many of the problems." said Paul Burnham, Martin’s father in a statement.
GRACIA’S WHEELCHAIR
Meanwhile Gracia Burnham faced another day in a wheelchair after she was hit in the leg during the fierce gun battle that erupted Friday June 7, amidst round the clock prayers around the world.
New Tribes Mission, the Manilla based missionary organization which employed the Burnham’s had urged Christians to pray for Gracia’s health and her three children, according to reports monitored by BosNewsLife.
She was flown to the capital Manila from a military base in southern Zamboanga city on Friday June 7 and "is looking forward to rejoin her family" in Wichita, Kansas, the Reuters news agency quoted officials as saying.
Observere in the region said the American missionaries, were the longest-held foreign captives in the Philippines since Muslim separatists began seizing hostages in the 1970s. The Burnhams, who had lived in the Philippines since 1986, were abducted by the guerrillas on May 27, 2001.
WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
Their capture came a day after they went to a beach resort off Palawan island to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary. Although the rebels say they are fighting for an Islamic state in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines, analysts point out that their main activity has been taking hostages for ransom.
Military officials said they believed the group’s leaders were among the fleeing rebels. A forklift operator, kidnapped to act as rebels’ guide, confirmed that after he was rescued along with Gracia.
The failure to capture them on Friday June 7, was seen as a major set-back for United States President George W. Bush, because the Abu Sayyaf Group is believed to have close ties to the al-Qa’ida terrorist network of Osama bin Laden.
However the US Embassy said that a $5 million reward which Washington announced last week for the capture of each of the group’s top five commanders stood, despite the end of the hostage crisis, the Reuters news agency reported.
