MANILA, Philippines — The bombing sortie in Sulu on Thursday that left at least 15 foreign and local terrorists dead is an indication of the accuracy of Air Force pilots and the military’s precision in intelligence gathering, a police official said.

Chief Supt. Bienvenido Latag, director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) regional police, said police forensic investigators who have reached Barangay Lanao Dakula in Parang town reported that the air strike squarely hit the militants’ camp.

“According to them (police investigators), a bunker was totally damaged and there were traces of blood,” Latag said.

Latag said the bombed area is a known resting place for the Abu Sayyaf, which explains the presence of a bunker there.

The camp is very near Mt. Taran where the three kidnapped members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were taken a few years ago.

“The Armed Forces has no control over that general area, only policemen can enter that area sometimes,” Latag said.

What makes it hard for the military to penetrate the area is the presence nearby of two major camps of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The military has confirmed that two operatives of the Southeast Asia regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, Marwan and Mauwiyah, and Abu Sayyaf chieftain Dr. Abu Pula were among those killed in the bombing.

Latag, however, said the police forensic team that went to the area did not find a body or even traces of a grave site.

“What they confirm was that the target was hit, and that there were indeed fatalities,” he said.

“As to the names of those who died and the number (of casualties), we have no idea yet because there are conflicting statements from the residents. Some said 12 died, others said eight and so on,” he added.

Latag said they are bracing for possible retaliatory attacks from the relatives of the slain local Abu Sayyaf members.

“It is part of their culture, so we expect it,” he said.

Sulu and Basilan are known lairs of the Abu Sayyaf.

In a related development, Latag said the two kidnapped European photographers and their captors were still in Tawi-Tawi.

He said there are no indications that the kidnappers and their captives have left the town of Languyan.

“We immediately responded after the incident, unfortunately it was already dark,” said Latag, referring to the kidnapping.

Last February 1, Dutch Elwold Horn and Swiss Lorenzo Vinciguerra were seized by five armed men while on their way back to Bongao from three days of bird-watching in Panglima Sugala town.

Their Filipino companion, Ivan Sarenas, escaped by jumping from the kidnappers’ pump boat. He told the police the group did not fire at him to avoid alerting passing fishermen.

The latest report from the military and the police is that the boat used was burned along the shoreline in Languyan.

At least two Navy ships have been deployed between Tawi-Tawi and Sulu to prevent the kidnappers from turning the two hostages over to the Abu Sayyaf.

Languyan is some eight to 10 hours travel to Sulu via a pump boat.

But police and military forces in Sulu and even Basilan are now on guard on the provinces' shorelines against the possible arrival of the victims and their captors.

Latag said they have come up with the groups responsible for the kidnapping but refused to identify it, saying the Crisis Management Committee (CMC) is now handling the case.

At least six foreigners are now in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf and other groups in Mindanao, including a retired Australian soldier whose captors are reportedly demanding $2 million.