U.S. Hostage Killed in Military Raid in
the Philippines
By THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:37
a.m. ET
 |
| Martin and Gracia Burnham,
missionaries from Wichita, Kan., were kidnapped more than a
year ago by Muslim extremists in the Philippines. During a
rescue mission on Friday, Mr. Burnham was killed, and his
wife was wounded. |
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) --
U.S.-trained commandos freed a Kansas missionary after more than a
year in captivity Friday but her American husband and a Filipino
nurse were killed during the shootout with their Muslim extremist
kidnappers.
Four of the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers
were killed and seven soldiers were wounded in the operation by
Philippine commandos outfitted by the United States with
silencers, night vision equipment and high-tech headsets.
Martin Burnham, 42, was killed by
a gunshot, said Gen. Narciso Abaya, the Philippine deputy military
chief of staff. It was unclear who shot him. Abu Sayyaf is
believed to have links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorism
network.
Abaya said Ediborah Yap, a
Filipino nurse kidnapped shortly after the Burnhams, also was shot
in the rescue operation and died of her wounds.
Burnham's wife, 43, underwent
surgery in the southern city of Zamboanga, said Maj. Gen. Ernesto
Carolina, commander of Philippine forces in the south. Doctors
said a bullet passed through her in the thigh.
``I was so happy when I got out
of the jungle,'' Gracia Burnham, 43, told doctors as they treated
her. She said she believed her husband's death was part of God's
plan.
``That is God's liking. That is
probably his destiny,'' she said.
Gracia Burnham was flown Friday
night from Zamboanga to Manila, where the U.S. Embassy will take
over arrangements to fly her to the United States, said Maj.
Richard Sater, a spokesman for the U.S. forces in Zamboanga.
Yap and the Burnhams were the
last remaining captives after the guerrillas kidnapped dozens of
people over the past year. Some were beheaded and some escaped or
were released.
President Bush said he was
assured by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that
``justice would be done.''
Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes
said the military could now pour reinforcements into the area and
unleash its full arsenal ``to finish off'' the Abu Sayyaf. The
group's numbers have dwindled to less than 100 from about 1,000 a
year ago.
Despite the deaths of two of
three hostages, Reyes defended the mission, saying Philippine
soldiers took ``every precaution to secure the safe release of the
hostages.''
The intense fighting Friday
started early in the afternoon near the town of Siraway on the
main island of Mindanao where the U.S.-trained Philippine troops
have been searching for the hostages for weeks. The fighting was
still going on after nightfall.
Helicopters piloted by U.S.
troops helped evacuate the wounded but no U.S. troops took part in
the raid, both Philippine and U.S. military officials said.
U.S. troops also had no hand in
planning the raid, said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S.
Joint Chiefs of Staff. Myers said the training given Filipino
troops since mid-February was not aimed at freeing hostages.
``The training was more general.
It was not pointed to hostage rescue,'' Myers told reporters in
Brussels, where he is attending a NATO meeting.
Some 1,200 Americans are in the
Philippines as part of Bush's global fight against terrorism. The
U.S. presence is the largest outside Afghanistan, where an
international coalition is pursuing bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist
network.
Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio said
the Americans -- including Green Berets, pilots, military
engineers and support staff -- were crucial to the mission.
Philippine officers credited U.S. surveillance with leading local
troops to the hostages.
The United States has deployed
U.S. Orion P3 surveillance planes and unmanned reconnaissance
aircraft as part of its non-combat support for operations against
the Abu Sayyaf..
``This was only made possible
because of the benefits we have derived from the conduct of the
exercise,'' he said. ``The surveillance equipment of the Americans
was very instrumental in locating where the Abu Sayyaf was.''
Arroyo offered her sympathies to
the Burnham and Yap families.
``This has been a long and
painful trial for them, for our government, for our country,'' she
said.
``Our soldiers tried their best
to hold their fire for safety,'' Macapagal Arroyo said. ``We shall
not stop until the Abu Sayyaf is finished.''
Philippine officers said the
guerrillas evaded the troops for days but were slowed down by
heavy rains Friday, allowing the soldiers to catch them.
Private First Class Rene Mabilog
was with about 40 Scout Rangers who first came across the
guerrillas.
``We were following them since
last night,'' Mabilog told The Associated Press in a hospital
where he was being treated for arm wounds. ``This morning, we
found their tracks and we followed them. There were about 30 of
them.''
Mabilog said the guerrillas
stopped to rest because it was raining heavily and the soldiers
crept up to about 30 yards behind them.
The fighting lasted about two
hours, he said, and eventually included hundreds of Philippine
troops.
The Burnhams, of Wichita, Kan.,
were kidnapped May 27, 2001. Yap was taken hostage a few days
later when the Abu Sayyaf, with the Burnhams in tow, raided a
hospital in the southern town of Lamitan to seize hospital staff
and medicine to treat their wounded.
The guerrillas kidnapped 18 other
people along with the Burnhams, including 17 Filipinos and Corona,
Calif., resident Guillermo Sobero.
Sobero was beheaded by the
guerrillas in June 2001, according to U.S. and Filipino officials.
The Abu Sayyaf says it is
fighting to carve a Muslim state out of the southern Philippines.
Martin Burnham's parents, Paul
and Oreta Burnham, received the news of his death at their home in
Rose Hill, Kan.
``The Lord will give us the
strength to get through this,'' Burnham said when he came to the
door. He said Arroyo had called him.
Before a prayer service at Rose
Hill Bible Church early this morning, Martin Burnham's brother,
Doug Burnham, said the family was still trying to grasp the news.
``God has given us strength. It
is kind of numbing right now. I suppose the full impact has not
hit us.''
Two of Martin Burnham's uncles,
David and Ralph Burnham, were among those gathering at the church.
``Whatever his will is, we will
accept it,'' David Burnham said. ``This could have happened a long
time ago. We appreciate we still have Gracia.''
David Burnham said that as of
Thursday the family didn't even know if the Martin and Gracia were
still on the island and the rescue attempt came as a surprise to
them.
He also said that the three
Burnham children -- Jeff, 15, Mindy, 12, and Zach, 11 -- will be
returning home to Kansas later today. with grandparents, Norvin
and Betty Jo Jones of Cherokee Village, Ark. |
