The body of Abu Sayyaf leader Jainal Antel Sali, Jr. alias Abu Solaiman in Jolo island. The Philippine military on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007 announced DNA test results on body dug up by troops in Jolo island last month belong to Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, who was killed in a clash in September. (Mindanao Examiner Photo) ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 20 Jan) – Forensic experts have identified the remains of a man said to be the leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group who was killed in fighting in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, a Philippine military spokesman said Saturday.
Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said DNA tests confirmed that the body dug up last month by soldiers belonged to Khadaffy Janjalani.
The remains were exhumed late December after two former Abu Sayyaf militants who surrendered to the military led troops to a shallow grave in the hinterlands village of Kabuntakas in Patikul town where the body was buried.
The military said Janjalani was killed in a clash in September.
“The DNA tests are done and it confirmed that the body was that of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani,” Bacarro told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from Manila.
The military previously said the Filipino and U.S. forensic experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were conducting DNA testing on tissue samples of Janjalani and his jailed brother Hector Janjalani.
Janjalani took over command of the Abu Sayyaf when his brother, Abubakar Abdurajak Janjalani, who founded the group, was killed in a firefight with policemen in 1998 in Basilan Island.
“The death of Janjalani really is a big blow to the Abu Sayyaf. And the recent killings of Abu Sayyaf leaders Binang Sali and Jainal Antel Sali, Jr. broke the Abu Sayyaf backbone and troops are pursuing the other leaders of the group in Jolo.”
“We will not stop until all terrorists are eradicated. The killings of Janjalani, Binang and Jainal are the results of our non-stop operation against terrorism. This is victory in the fight against international terrorism,” Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commander of military forces in the southern Philippines, told the Mindanao Examiner in Zamboanga City.
He said troops were still hunting Janjalani’s other lieutenants Radulan Sahiron and Isnilon Hapilon and two Jemaah Islamiyah militants Umar Patek and Dulmatin, whom Abu Sayyaf gunmen are believed to be protecting on Jolo, about 950 kms south of Manila. Both Patek and Dulmatin are wanted for the October 2002 bombings in the resort Indonesian island of Bali in which 202 mostly foreign tourists were killed.
At least 10 Abu Sayyaf militants and 3 soldiers were killed in fierce fighting Thursday in Jolo’s Patikul town. Officials said two Abu Sayyaf gunmen were also captured by soldiers in the hinterland village of Timpook in Patikul.
The military on Wednesday sent more troops to the troubled island to help hundreds of soldiers fighting the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants.
Security officials previously said that as many as six Indonesian militants are hiding in Jolo.
On Tuesday, Filipino troops, guided by U.S. military intelligence, raided an Abu Sayyaf hideout on Bud Dajo (also called Mount Daho) in Jolo’s Talipao town, south of Patikul, and killed a senior militant leader, Jainal Antel Sali, Jr. alias Abu Solaiman.
Binang Sali, leader of an Abu Sayyaf unit called Urban Terrorist Group, was also killed in a separate clash with troops.
The latest fighting came ahead of a planned visit in Jolo of U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice before the start of new joint RP-US anti-terror exercises next month on the island.
But government sources said Rice would instead send her deputy Karen Hughes, accompanied by top U.S. military and government officials to inspect American troops stationed on Jolo and helping Philippine military defeat the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya.
The Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya are both in the U.S. list of international terrorist organizations, blamed for the kidnappings of foreigners and spate of bombings in the Philippines and Indonesia. (Mindanao Examiner)
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