Seven members of a Moro separatist group that occupied an island village in Palawan were killed and two others were captured, while a Marine soldier was wounded when fighting erupted between the armed men and the military Wednesday morning.

Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said a report from the ground commander of the fleet-marine operations team, Lt. Col. Yuri Pesigan, showed seven bodies of suspected Moro National Liberation Front members have been recovered by the military.

He said six firearms that included two Garand rifles, an M-14 rifle, an M-79 grenade launcher, two caliber .45 pistols and a kris were recovered from the marauders.

Initial report from the field said among those killed was Abdullah Abdurajak alias “Pa Guro”, the leader of the armed men. The military, however, said this information has yet to be verified.

Arevalo said two more were captured in the running gun battle that was ongoing as of press time. A wounded Marine, grazed by bullet in the face near his eye, has been airlifted to a hospital in Rio Tuba in the southern tip of mainland Palawan.

“Pesigan and Commander Alberto Cruz of Naval Task Group 41.5, and the members of the local police, with orders coming from Commodore Orwen Cortez, the Commander Naval Forces West, endeavor to get all the MNLF members before sundown to prevent their possible escape or for dissolving with the civilians/evacuees,” Arevalo said.

The Navy spokesman earlier said a report sent by Cortez to Navy Flag officer-in-command Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez, showed that the fleet-marine operations led by Pesigan decided to attack the armed men Tuesday afternoon after a military ultimatum for them to surrender lapsed.

The men were holed up in a mosque in Sitio Marabon, Mantangule in Balabac town.

Abdurajak and his followers arrived in the village island on Saturday and terrorized residents, who were forced to evacuate to a nearby island. Local government officials tried to persuade the armed men to surrender through peaceful negotiations.

On Tuesday, a surrender feeler was sent by Abdurajak to authorities.

However, Arevalo said Abdurajak’s group failed to surrender before sundown on Tuesday, the ultimatum given by Pesigan to Haji Sukarno Jamal, the rebels’ emissary. This prompted the Navy Special Operations Group and teams from the Marine Battalion Landing Team 8 to launch the assault on midnight of August 18.

Golez vowed to pursue the remaining rebels.

“We will pursue the operation until its rapid conclusion and restore the rule of law in the island. We will get these marauders and kidnappers who are now shooting it out with our fleet-marine personnel.”

Meanwhile, government troops in Basilan province are bracing for another round of armed confrontation with Abu Sayyaf bandits after they spotted where the rebels are hiding.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, said troops in Basilan have identified the area where the bandits are staying apparently to avoid pursuing government soldiers.

Dolorfino said the offensive would not be aggressive because of the observance of the Holy Month of Ramadan by the Muslim faithful which is to start Thursday.

Meanwhile, the government will also pursue legal action against the Abu Sayyaf aside from the combat offensive.

Elite members of the police Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) were sent to Basilan Monday to help the local police in filing appropriate charges in court against the ASG, as well as their supporters and sympathizers.

The police claimed they have a list of personalities supporting the ASG but refused to identify them until after appropriate complaints have been filed.