Soldiers recover ATM card of rebel leader Ustadz Khabir Malik from a Moro National Liberation Front camp in Jolo island; and Southern Philippines military chief Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo and regional army commander Maj. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito inspect seized MNLF weapons. Also Philippine military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon speaks to soldiers in Jolo island and visits a soldier wounded in a clash with Malik's group. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)
JOLO ISLAND – The Philippine military has ordered a massive manhunt against Moro National Liberation Front rebels and Abu Sayyaf militants on the island of Jolo, as troops continue their offensive for two weeks now.
Government soldiers shelled Wednesday an MNLF mountain hideout after Abu Sayyaf militants sought refuge there.
Troops were battling the MNLF forces under Ustadz Khabir Malik also known as Habier Malik, and members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and the Jemaah Islamiya on the island’s Indanan town, about 950 km from Manila.
“We have ordered troops to pursue the terrorists and the fugitive Malik. Our operation is now called Oplan Ultimatum 2,” said Philippine military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon.
Esperon flew to Jolo island on Thursday and met with his commanders before inspecting troops sent to pursue Malik’s group, accused of attacking a marine base in Panamao town on April 13.
“Malik remains the subject of our hot pursuit. It is very clear that he committed homicide. We now consider him as a fugitive,” he said.
Troops also seized 600 kilos of ammonium nitrate this week from a mini-bus in Panamao town near where security forces were pursuing Malik’s group.
The chemical is widely used in the manufacture of homemade explosives in the troubled southern Philippine region. The bus driver and passengers denied knowledge of the cargo and there were no arrest made.
It was the second time that troops seized such chemical. In Zamboanga City, soldiers manning a checkpoint also recovered 25 kilos of ammonium nitrate from a passenger bus during a security check.
There were no reports of frech casualties, but the military said it was targeting Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya hiding in the camp controlled by Khaid Ajibun, one of the most influential rebel leader allied with jailed MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari.
Misuari is facing rebellion charges after his forces attacked a major military base in Jolo island in 2000. The MNLF signed a peace agreement with Manila in September 1996, but accused the Arroyo government of failing to honor the accord.
The military said three of its soldiers were killed and dozens more injured in the clashes. It also said the dozens of rebels were killed in the fighting, but the claims had been denied by the MNLF.
Some 8,000 soldiers are involved in the operation against about a thousand rebels and Abu Sayyaf members and a dozen Jemaah Islamiya militants, including Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who were both implicated in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. (Mindanao Examiner)
No comments:
Post a Comment