Sayyaf camp falls in Sulu, sub-leader killed in firefight with troops

Abu Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron in this undated photo from the US Rewards for Justice Program. (Mindanao Examiner)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 28, 2010) – Government troops captured an encampment of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Filipino province of Sulu, the military said Sunday.

It said an undetermined number of militants were also killed and two soldiers wounded in the fighting Friday that led to the fall of the encampment in the hinterland village of Panglayahan in Patikul town.

“The camp, which was strategically located at the foot hill of the mountainous Sinumaan complex, was heavily defended by about fifty Abu Sayyaf fighters. They, however, retreated after a fierce firefight resulting to numerous casualties on the terrorist while two Marines were wounded,” said Brigadier General Rustico Guerrero, commander of military forces in Sulu province.

The fighting was part of the military operation to capture senior militant leader Radullan Sahiron, a former commander of the Moro National Liberation Front which signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996.

It was unclear whether Sahiron was in the camp during the fighting or if he had escaped the offensive. But one of Sahiron’s aide was killed in the fighting and that his body was recovered at the weekend.

Troops also recovered 57 rockets and assorted weapons from the camp, Guerrero said.

Sahiron is one of top Abu Sayyaf leaders wanted by the United States for terrorism.

Washington also offered as much as $1 million reward for the capture of Sahiron, who was one of those behind the kidnappings of 21 mostly Western holidaymakers in Malaysia’s resort island of Sipadan in 2001 and three US citizens, including 17 Filipinos kidnapped from the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province in the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

Morale Of RP Troops Fighting Sayyaf Is Low Over Talks Of Terror Leader's Surrender

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 16, 2008) – The morale of Philippine troops fighting the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group were affected by reports that Manila would negotiate for the surrender of a top terror leader blamed for the spate of killings and bombings in the southern region.

Philippine media reported that the government is open to negotiating with Radulan Sahiron, who is one of the country's most wanted terror leader. Sahiron is also wanted by the United States on terrorism charges and offered as much as $5 million bounty for his capture.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales said Sahiron has sent surrender feelers and wanted to avail of the government's amnesty program, including livelihood aid.

Gonzales was quoted as saying that payment to rebels and granting them livelihood are not new since the government has previously offered amnesty to the New People's Army, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines.

But the military said the Abu Sayyaf cannot avail of the amnesty program because it is a terrorist group.

"The Abu Sayyaf group is not included in the amnesty program because it is classified as a terrorist organization. Their leaders and members are terrorists and cold-blooded murderers not worthy of the good intention of the amnesty program," Army Major Eugene Batara, a regional military spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Government troops fighting the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu province were affected by Manila's plan to open negotiations with Sahiron, said to be the leader of the gang that is holding ABS-CBN television reporter Ces Drilon and her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, including their guide, university professor Octavio Dinampo.

They were kidnapped June 8 in Maimbung town while on their way to secretly interview Sahiron after reports of his surrender surfaced.

"We are demoralized by what we hear about Sahiron and how the government is biting to his propaganda. The government should not even talk or negotiate with terrorists. The Abu Sayyaf is a terrorist group and Sahiron should be neutralized," an army soldier said.

Policemen inn Sulu who knew Sahiron said he is not likely to surrender. "Because with his string of criminal cases and being on the US list of wanted terrorists, surrendering to authorities is not an easy option," one policeman said.

The Abu Sayyaf, also known as al-Harakat al Islamiya, which means the "Bearer of the Sword", is originally fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state, but resorted to banditry after its chieftain, Libyan-firebrand Ustadz Abubakar Abdurajak Janjalani was killed in a gun battle with police forces in Basilan Island in 1998. (Mindanao Examiner)

4 Killed In Fierce Fighting In Jolo Island In South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 08 Aug) – Three Abu Sayyaf militants and a government soldier were killed in fierce fighting Wednesday morning in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, a military commander said.

Army Major General Ruben Rafael said five more soldiers were wounded in the fighting in the village of Lanao Dakula near Parang town.

He said troops clashed with about 70 Abu Sayyaf gunmen under Radullan Sahiron, wanted by both Manila and Washington for the spate of kidnappings of foreigners and terrorism in the troubled south.

“We have recovered the three bodies of the terrorists and several high-powered weapons, including a 90mm recoilless rifle and munitions left behind by the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.

Troops stormed a terrorist hideout in the hinterland village and sparking daylong clashes. Security forces also clashed Tuesday with the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo island.

Army Major Eugene Batara, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City, said sporadic clashes were reported Tuesday afternoon in the village of Sampunay, but there were no immediate reports of enemy casualties.

“There could be new Abu Sayyaf casualties. Fighting is going on,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

The Abu Sayyaf originally was fighting for a strict Islamic state, but the group resorted to banditry and terrorism after its chieftain Abubakar Abdurajak Janjalani, a Libyan-trained firebrand, was killed by policemen in Basilan island in 1998.

His younger brother Khadaffy Janjalani, who took over the Abu Sayyaf group, was himself killed in a battle with U.S.-backed Filipino troops in Jolo island in September 2006.

Janjalani was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of two Americans in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

6 Soldiers Wounded In Sayyaf Clash In Jolo Island

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 09 Oct) - Six government soldiers were wounded in fierce clashes with Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, officials said.

Officials said a still undetermined number of gunmen were killed and wounded in the weekend fighting in Mt Tunggol in Patikul town, where security forces raided a terrorist hideout.

"Six of our soldiers are wounded and we still don't know how many terrorists were killed and wounded in the clash," a regional army spokesman, Major Eugenio Batara, told the Mindanao Examiner on Monday.

Batara described the one-hour battle as "ferocious" and said army troops clashed with the group of local Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron, wanted by the Philippines for his role in the spate of kidnappings of foreigners and terrorism in the restive region.

"The fighting was ferocious and military intelligence reports suggested many casualties on the side of the terrorist groups," he said.

Batara did not say whether two Jemaah Islamiya militants Dulmatin and Umar Patek, wanted by Jakarta for the 2002 Bali nightclubs bombings, had fought the soldiers side by side with Sahiron's group.

"The continuing operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines against the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah led to the encounter. The government will continue operations until the terrorist ASG and JI are neutralized," he said.

Batara said troops earlier captured an Abu Sayyaf hideout in Patikul's Mt Bagsak and recovered empty boxes of mortar and rifle ammunition, surgical blades, disposable syringe and empty cases of gauze pad with plaster and other medical paraphernalia.

"The terrorists could be running out of food and medical supplies because of the government offensive. We will choke them until they are cornered in Patikul," he said.

Security forces last week arrested the Indonesian wife of wanted Jemaah Islamiya bomber, Dulmatin, in a raid at terrorist hideout in Patikul.

Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro said, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said Istiada Bt. H. Oemar Sovie, alias Amenah Toha, and her two children were detained by soldiers. The woman is being investigated whether she had a role in Dulmatin's terror activities.

Bacarro said the woman admitted to military interrogators that she is the wife of the 37-year old Dulmatin, also known as Amar Bin Usman, one of Asia’s most wanted Jemaah Islamiya leaders

Dulmatin’s wife also said that she sneaked by boat to the southern Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi from Malaysia in August 2003 and was fetched by Azhar, a Jemaah Islamiya militant, and brought to Jolo island to join the group of the wanted terror leader and the Abu Sayyaf.

The Jemaah Islamiya is also believed as behind the 2004 bombing of a Filipino ferry off Manila Bay that killed 116 people-the second-worst terrorist attack in Southeast Asia after the 2002 Bali bombs.

The group was largely blamed by Philippine authorities in a series of bombings in Manila in December 2000 that killed 22 and wounded more than 100 people. One of the bombs exploded at an open square less than a hundred meters from the U.S. Embassy.

The U.S. has offered a $10 million bounty for the capture of Dulmatin, an electronics specialist with training in al-Qa'eda camps in Afghanistan. He is a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiya terrorist organization and is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the bombings of two night clubs in Bali, which killed 202 people, mostly Australians, including seven U.S. citizens.

Dulmatin fled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines soon after the August 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta. There, he is one of four top JI leaders—including Umar Patek, Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdul Rahman Ayub—who trained members of JI and the Abu Sayyaf group in Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps in the Philippines, said Zachary Abusa, an Asian terror expert.

In 2005, Dulmatin and Umar Patek ordered Abdullah Sonata, a JI operative in Central Java who was arrested in conjunction with the September 4, 2004 Australian Embassy bombing, to dispatch additional JI members to Mindanao for training. He has also called for JI suicide bombers to be sent to the Philippines for operations.

Abusa said Dulmatin, along with Zulkarnaen and Abu Rusdan, was designated for involvement in terrorism by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in April, and placed on the UN's 1267 Committee for terrorist financing in early 2005.

The MILF has denied any ties with the Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)