US-backed RP troops hunt for JI, Sayyaf terrorists in Sulu

Mist envelopes the magnificent Tulay Mosque in Sulu province in the southern Philippines, where security forces are battling Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants since Sunday, September 20, 2009. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 22, 2009) – Philippine troops backed by US military intelligence on Tuesday continue to hunt for Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants in the southern island of Sulu, where dozens of rebels and soldiers were killed in fierce clashes since last week, officials told the Mindanao Examiner.

Regional military chief Major General Benjamin Dolorfino said troops were tracking down at least four most senior Abu Sayyaf leaders – Dr Abu, Albader Parad, Isnilon Hapilon and Yasser Igasan – including two foreign Jemaah Islamiya terrorists Mauiya and Quayem and some 200 gunmen.

Mauiya, believed to an Indian national, was among those previously tagged by the Philippine authorities as behind the kidnappings early this year of three international Red Cross workers in Sulu. But little is known about Quayem.

“Our forces are pursuing the Abu Sayyaf and JI terrorists. We will get them sooner or later,” Dolorfino said.

He said at least 34 Abu Sayyaf militants and 8 soldiers were killed in the fighting since Sunday in the hinterlands of Indanan town. Among those killed on the side of the Abu Sayyaf was Ustadz Muktar, a cousin of Hapilon, whom is wanted by the US for terrorism.

Dolorfino said the US military has been providing intelligence to the Philippine military in the hunt for the terrorists. “The US military is providing intelligence support,” he said without elaborating.

But US Special Forces are deployed in Sulu province since 2006 and assisting the local military in defeating the Abu Sayyaf.

Police are also on alert for retaliatory attacks by the Abu Sayyaf after security forces captured one of their main camps in Indanan town.

Chief Inspector Usman Pingay, head of police in the capital town of Jolo, said he had received intelligence reports that the Abu Sayyaf plans to attack after their largest camp on the island was overran by troops.

He said police had set up more road checkpoints and were conducting more foot patrols.

“We are in heightened alert. We have intelligence reports that the Abu Sayyaf may launch an attack in Jolo, probably as retaliation to the ongoing military offensive,” Pingay told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from Jolo.

Dolorfino said the fall of the Abu Sayyaf camp was a big blow to the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group. “The capture of the Abu Sayyaf camp is a big blow to the enemy because it is one of their main strongholds in Sulu,” he said.

The seized Abu Sayyaf camp was near to the base of former Moro National Liberation Front rebels, who were believed coddling the militants, according to Dolorfino.

“The Abu Sayyaf camp was a convenient sanctuary because of the presence of the MNLF base and some former rebels are protecting these terrorists because either they are relatives or family members,” he said.

The MNLF signed a peace deal with Manila in September 1996, but many former guerrillas were disgruntled with the accord, saying, the Arroyo government failed to comply with some of its provisions and uplift their standards of living. They accused Manila of failing to develop war-torn areas in the south.

Under the peace agreement, Manila would have to provide a mini-Marshal Plan to spur economic development in Muslim areas in the south and livelihood and housing assistance to tens of thousands of former rebels to uplift their poor living standards.

Many of the former MNLF fighters have joined the Abu Sayyaf and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is now negotiating peace with the government. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyaf Leader Wounded, Son Killed In Sulu Clashes

Private and commuter vehicles pass through a road in Sulu province in the southern Philippines. Government projects still continue in Sulu despite the fighting between troops and rebels. (Minanao Examiner Photo)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 01, 2008) – Government soldiers shot and wounded a leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and killed in his son in fierce clashes in the southern Filipino province of Sulu, officials said Thursday.

Officials said Isnilon Hapilon, both wanted by the Philippine and the United States on terrorism and kidnapping charges, managed to escape pursuing troops, but his son Tabari was killed in the town of Indanan on Wednesday.

One soldier was also killed in the fighting that displaced more than a thousand Muslim villagers. “Isnilon is wounded and is being pursued by security forces,” said Army Maj. Eugene Batara, spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command.

Clashes subsided late Wednesday after gunmen retreated deeper into the jungle and troops occupied an area said to be a bomb factory abandoned by the Abu Sayyaf.

Hapilon is one the country’s most wanted terrorist and is facing a string of criminal charges, including the kidnapping of three US citizens in 2001. Two of the hostages were later executed, one of them beheaded and the mutilated body fed to wild animals in the jungle of Basilan island.

Former fighters of the Moro National Liberation Front said they were attacked by troops, shelling a major base in Indanan town. But Sulu military chief Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban said soldiers were fighting the Abu Sayyaf and not the MNLF.

“We are targeting the Abu Sayyaf and not the MNLF,” he said.

A police patrol on Thursday also recovered an improvised explosive device planted on a dirt road at a village in Panglima Estino town in Sulu. It was unknown whether the IED was planted by the Abu Sayyaf or the MNLF.

Marines Commandant Gen. Mohammad Dolorfino flew to Sulu on Thursday and met with Gov. Sakur Tan about the fighting. Tan said the fighting is affecting the peace and order in Sulu.

“We don’t want any fighting in Sulu, especially at this time that many visitors are coming over and looking into prospects of investing in the province. Our tourism efforts and economy are also affected by this conflict,” he said.

Tan, head of the Provincial Crisis Committee, ordered the social workers to look into the situation of those who fled their homes because of the clashes. “We want peace and development, not war and refugees,” he said.

Tan led town and provincial officials in a ground breaking ceremony for a housing project for the poor in Indanan before the fighting broke out Wednesday. A similar ceremony will be held Friday in Indanan, Patikul, Luuk and Maimbung towns, he said. (Mindanao Examiner)

Jemaah Islamiya Bomber, Sayyaf Leader Escape Raid In Jolo Island

Philippine soldiers guard a wharf in Jolo island. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 09 Apr) – A group of U.S.-trained Filipino soldiers raided a hideout of the Jemaah Islamiya in the southern island of Jolo on Moday and captured three local militants, officials said.

Officials said one of two Jemaah Islamiya bombers, Umar Patek, and a senior Abu Sayyaf leader, Isnilon Hapilon, had escaped the raiders in the village of Kanlimot in Talipao town, a known stronghold of the local terrorist group.

One soldier was also wounded in a separate clash Monday in Bakong village in Patikul town on the other side of the island.

“Three Abu Sayyaf terrorists have been captured in the operation. But Umar Patek and Isnilon Sahiron managed to escape. Troops are now tracking the high-value targets and we will not stop until they are neutralized,” Major Eugene Batara, a regional Filipino army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

The spokesman said soldiers, members of the Light Reaction Company, trained by U.S. Special Forces, also recovered automatic rifles from the Abu Sayyaf hideout.

Besides Patek, soldiers were also hunting down Dulmatin and Malaysian terror suspect Zulkifli bin Hir and other Jemaah Islamiya militants hiding on the island under the protection of the Abu Sayyaf.

Jakarta tagged both Patek and Dulmatin as behind the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australian holiday-makers.

While Zulkifli bin Hir, an engineer trained in the U.S. allegedly heads the Kumpulun Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) terrorist organization and is a member of Jemaah Islamiya central command.

He has been present in the Philippines since August 2003, where he is believed to have conducted bomb-making training for the Abu Sayyaf. His younger brother, Taufik bin Abdul Halim, a.k.a. Dany, was involved in the 2001 Jakarta Atrium Mall bombing and currently in jail in Indonesia.

Washington offered as much as $10 million reward for the capture of Dulmatin and $ 5 million for Zulkifli and Hapilon and another $1 million bounty for Patek. (Mindanao Examiner)