ZAMBOANGA CITY—The police officer who was wounded in an ambush in Basilan on 12 August 2023, died while being treated in the hospital in Lamitan City on Sunday night, bringing to two the number of government troops killed.
Police Cpl. Abdurafiq Gafor Akalun and Private Marjhon Tenido was among the fatalities and nine others are wounded the duo was a member of the Joint Peace and Security Team (JPST), the convoy are on their way Ulitan village of Ungkaya Pukan town, when fired upon by unidentified gunmen believed to be members of Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). The group supposedly to prepare the area for a conduct of medical mission.
The identified slain soldiers in the attack are Private Marjhon Tenido, who was a native of Tukuran town in Zamboanga del Sur province. Tenido belonged to the Army’s 64th Infantry Battalion based in Basilan that Luzon heads; and
Abdurafiq Gafor Akalun, on the other hand, he was the first member of the peacekeeping force JPST to have died in an ambush in the province, said Police Col. John Cundo, operations chief of the Basilan Provincial Police Office.