ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 7, 2008) – Government forces battled Sunday Abu Sayyaf militants in two fronts in the southern Philippines, where security forces, backed by US military intelligence, are trying to defeat the notorious group blamed for the spate of deadly attacks that killed hundreds of people in nearly two decades now.
Fighting between marines and the militants erupted at around 6 a.m. in the town of Patikul in Sulu province, said Lt. Steffani Cacho, a spokesperson for the Philippines Western Mindanao Command headquarters, which is monitoring the situation.
An hour later, hostilities also broke out in the nearby province of Basilan, where militants and marines were fighting in a town called Al-Barka, scene of previous clashes where 14 soldiers had been beheaded early this year.
Cacho said there were no immediate reports of casualties on both sides. “Firefight is going and we are awaiting reports,” she told the Mindanao Examiner.
It was unknown if the Abu Sayyaf coordinated its attacks on government forces, but sporadic clashes had been reported in Basilan and Sulu, where the US maintain a few hundred troops to help the local military defeat terrorism. Both provinces are part of the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.
Fighting between marines and the militants erupted at around 6 a.m. in the town of Patikul in Sulu province, said Lt. Steffani Cacho, a spokesperson for the Philippines Western Mindanao Command headquarters, which is monitoring the situation.
An hour later, hostilities also broke out in the nearby province of Basilan, where militants and marines were fighting in a town called Al-Barka, scene of previous clashes where 14 soldiers had been beheaded early this year.
Cacho said there were no immediate reports of casualties on both sides. “Firefight is going and we are awaiting reports,” she told the Mindanao Examiner.
It was unknown if the Abu Sayyaf coordinated its attacks on government forces, but sporadic clashes had been reported in Basilan and Sulu, where the US maintain a few hundred troops to help the local military defeat terrorism. Both provinces are part of the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.
Authorities have tagged the Abu Sayyaf group in the February 2004 bombing of the Super Ferry 14, which killed more than 100 people in the worst maritime terrorist attack in the Philippines.
The 10,192-ton ship was sailing out of Manila, with about 900 passengers and crew, when a television set filled with TNT exploded. The Abu Sayyaf owned up the bombing. The group was also behind the spate of kidnappings and bomb attacks across Mindanao, although the military said the number of militants had dwindled in recent years with the killings of many of its known commanders, including their leader Khadaffy Janjalani.
The Abu Sayyaf – which means The Bearer of the Sword - is one of four Moro rebel groups operating mostly in the southern Philippines.
It has been labeled a terrorist organization by both Manila and Washington, and is believed by the US to have links with the al-Qaeda terror network. The Philippine government, aided by the US military, has deployed thousands of troops in the south in an effort to eradicate Abu Sayyaf. (Mindanao Examiner)
No comments:
Post a Comment