Al-Qaeda-linked militant captured in the Southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 25, 2010) – A senior member of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group was captured by Filipino police forces in the southern island of Sulu, officials told the Mindanao Examiner on Thursday.

Regional police chief Bienvenido Latag said Mujibar Amon was arrested late Monday near his house in Ummul Quran village in Indanan town. He did not give details about the capture of the 26-year old militant, but said Amon’s arrest was the result of a long intelligence operation.

“This is another blow to the terrorist group and we will continue to pursue the terrorists no matter where,” Latag said.

Amon is one the country’s most wanted terrorists who was involved in last year’s kidnappings of three Red Cross workers and many more, including the cross-border raid in Malaysia’s Sipadan island report where 21 mostly European and Asian holidaymakers were abducted and brought to Sulu in 2000.

He was tagged as among those who also kidnapped US tourist Jeffrey Shilling in 2000 in Sulu, one of the five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

Amon was also linked by Philippine authorities to the spate of bombings in Sulu, where Patek, Dulmatin, Mauiya and other Jemaah Islamiya terrorists are believed to be hiding.

Last week, authorities killed Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad and five of his men in a clash in Sulu’s Indanan town. (Mindanao Examiner)

US Officials Visit Wounded Troops In South RP, Ban Media Coverage

US soldiers guard outside a Philippine military hospital in Zamboanga City where US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and senior US military officials visit Monday July 16, 2007 nine soldiers who are wounded in clashes with Abu Sayyaf militants and Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Basilan island, where a kidnapped Italian Catholic priest Giancarlo Bossi is believed being held by rogue MILF members. US officials have banned Filipino journalists and news photographers from covering Kenney's visit for a still unknown reason. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

A Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) 14, assigned to the "Swift Intruders" of Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 5, comes ashore Wednesday July 11, 2007 to pick up Seabees with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 7 and Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 at the completion of their mission in the Philippines. Members of NMCB-7 and ACB-1, with medical support from the Third Medical Battalion, worked together with Filipino Seabees from the First Construction Battalion in support of Pacific Partnership 2007. The mission, a four-month humanitarian assistance mission to Southeast Asia and Oceania includes specialized medical care and various construction and engineering projects.(US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Paul D. Williams)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 16 Jul) – US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and senior American military officials on Monday visited nine Filipino soldiers wounded in clashes with Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in Zamboanga City.

Kenney arrived onboard a bullet-proof van at a military hospital inside Western Mindanao Command headquarters where the soldiers are recuperating from bullet wounds in clashes that occurred July 10 in Basilan’s Al-Barka town.

Fourteen soldiers were also killed in the fighting, ten of them beheaded and mutilated.
Kenney did not give any statement and journalists and photographers were banned in the hospital on orders from US officials for a still unknown reason.

The US is helping the Philippines defeat terrorism and have deployed hundreds of American troops in the volatile region, where local military is battling Abu Sayyaf militants tied to al-Qaeda terror network and members of the Jemaah Islamiya.

Army Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, Western Mindanao Command chief, was quoted Monday by The Australian as saying that his group is close to capturing Jemaah Islamiya explosives expert Dulmatin after an informant contacted the military offering to surrender the 2002 Bali bombing mastermind.

Aside from Dulmatin, troops are also tracking down another Bali bomber Umar Patek, who is being coddled by the Abu Sayyaf group.

Cedo said he received a message last week from a member of the former rebel group, Moro National Liberation Front, who promised he could lead government soldiers to Dulmatin’s hideout in Jolo island, about 950 km south of Manila. "I think we have a good prospect of finding him," Cedo said. "I received this message saying Dulmatin would be surrendered to us."

He said the informant had even pinpointed the precise location of Dulmatin’s lair in Jolo island.
The US has offered a $10 million bounty for Dulmatin’s capture and $1 million for Patek’s head. The Bali bombings killed 202 people, mostly foreigners, including 88 Australian holiday-makers.
The Philippine military, backed by US intelligence, mounted new offensive against the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya terrorists began on Jolo island.

In many instances, villagers reported seeing heavily armed US soldiers in armored vehicles, with Filipino troops.

The offensive, codenamed Oplan: Ultimatum 2, is aimed at capturing - dead or alive - leaders of the Abu Sayyaf and the two Jemaah Islamiya bombers. Indonesian authorities also tagged the Jemaah Islamiya as behind the 2003 JW Marriott hotel car bombing that killed a dozen people and wounded over 150 others.

Hundreds of US troops are also deployed in Jolo to help the local military fight the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya.

The US military provides technical intelligence to local troops because they are not allowed to participate in combat operation against the Abu Sayyaf or Jemaah Islamiya, both included in the US terror list.

Last month, the US Pacific commander, Adm. Timothy Keating, in a surprised visit in Jolo island, inspected a captured Abu Sayyaf mountain base in Tugas village in Patikul town. (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)

US Seeks Help Of Philippine Muslim Rebels To Help Capture Jemaah, Al-Qaeda Terrorists

U.S. soldiers are to begin a joint military drill with Philippines troops in Jolo and Mindanao islands in Southern Philippines. The country's largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, on Friday 16 Feb 2007 says Washington is seeking its help to help capture Jemaah Islamiya bombers Dumatin and Umar Patek and Filipino terrorists with links to al-Qaeda. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / 16 Feb) – A group of senior U.S. officials held a secret meeting with the Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group and sought help to capture Indonesian and Filipino militants with links to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya terror network, a rebel spokesman said Friday.

The meeting took place inside a rebel base of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Shariff Kabunsuan on Mindanao island, a hot bed of insurgency in the southern Philippines.

A rebel spokesman, Eid Kabalu, said the meeting on Thursday was centered on the hunt for Jemaah Islamiya militants Dulmatin and Umar Patek, tagged as behind the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, including 88 Australian holiday-makers.

And for the capture of Filipino militant Abdulbasit Usman, blamed for the spate of bombings in Mindanao and linked by Philippine authorities to the Jemaah Islamiya and al-Qaeda. Usman has a 50,000 dollar bounty on his head for his arrest.

Kabalu said U.S. Chargé d' affaires Paul Jones and U.S. Army Col. David Maxwell, commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, led the group in meeting MILF deputy chief, Ghazali Jaafar. The meeting was long, he said.

“They came to us and sought our help to capture the terrorists. The MILF signed an accord with the Philippine government and rebel forces are helping authorities hunt down these criminals through the ad-hoc joint action group.”

“As a matter of fact, the MILF, through the ad-hoc joint action group, provided vital intelligence about terrorists. The MILF is fighting these criminals because we are also affected by their activities,” Kabalu told the Mindanao Examiner.

He did not identify other U.S. officials who accompanied Jones.

But other rebel sources said aside from Jones and Maxwell, Jon Lindborg, mission director of the U.S. Agency for International Development and Col. Bruce West, U.S. Embassy Defense Attaché' and Paul Kennedy, a regional security officer, were also in the meeting.

Philippine security officials said Abu Sayyaf militants tied to al-Qaeda were coddling Dulmatin and Patek in Jolo island in the Sulu Archipelago, about 950 km south of Manila.

And Usman is hiding in Maguindanao province, a stronghold of the MILF on Mindanao island.
The Adnkronos International on Friday also reported about how the U.S. officials secretly met with the MILF and asked for help in the hunt for Dulmatin and Patek.

It quoted Jaafar as saying: "They want us to help by providing vital information that will lead to the arrest of the two terrorists. I said we could help them because we are also against the two. We are always affected by their activities."

"They asked also about the whereabouts of Abdul Basit Usman. We told them that he never became a member of our organization ever since," Jaafar added.

Washington offered as much as $10 million bounty for the capture of Dulmatin and $1 million for Patek's head. The MILF renounced any link with terrorist organizations in 2003 when its late leader, Salamat Hashim, asked Washington to get involved in the peace talks with Manila.

Regarding the peace talks, Jaafar said Washington reiterated its concern for the current problems encountered.

Manila began peace negotiations with the MILF in 2001, but no major accord has been signed by both sides, except for a cease-fire agreement. And many rebels are slowly losing their patience on the five-year old peace talks.

Peace talks ended in September last year in Malaysia with both sides failing to sign any agreement on the most contentious issue -- ancestral domain -- which refers to the MILF demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland.

It is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement.

Malaysia, an influential member of the Organization of Islamic Conference, is brokering the peace talks.

"They are concerned with peace process. They want to help and strengthen their peace initiatives in Mindanao," Jaafar said.

A day before Jone's visit to the MILF camp, a six-man delegation from European Union led by Alistar MacDonald, Ambassador of the European Community to the Philippines, also met rebel leaders in the same venue.

"They reiterated their commitment to help and resolve the problem in Mindanao through the negotiations. We welcomed their concern because you know we really want an end to the problem," Jaafar said.

MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim previously warned that Manila should be blamed if the peace talks fail. He said the talks are now passing “a turbulent area” and that the Filipino government must take responsibility for the breakdown of the negotiations.

“This signals that we are now on the danger zone of the peace talks,” Ebrahim said.

The MILF has rejected Manila's offer for a limited autonomy in the mineral-rich, but restive Mindanao island, home to about 4 million Muslims who want a separate Islamic state. (Mindanao Examiner)

Dulmatin Still Holed Out In Jolo Jungle

A U.S. military convoy passes in a village in Maimbun town in Jolo island in the southern Philippines on Thursday 25 Jan 2007. Filipino security forces, assisted by U.S. troops, are pursuing two Jemaah Islamiya bombers, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, and Abu Sayyaf militants who are protecting the two men, tagged as behind the 2002 Bali bombinngs that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. (Mindanao Examiner Photo exclusive for The Australian)

JOLO ISLAND (Emma Kate Symons / 27 Jan) - ''THE Americans like to talk about the battle for hearts and minds. But you need to hold them by the balls. There has to be the threat of force.''

As the afternoon call to prayer echoes across the teeming port town of Jolo, the chain-smoking Filipino intelligence boss spits out his lewd warning to fugitive Bali bombers Dulmatin and Omar Patek.

The two Jemaah Islamiah leaders are holed up somewhere in the cloud-covered jungle only a few dozen kilometres from where we sit beneath the mango trees at Philippines army headquarters, shared with the assisting US special forces.

''We know where they are,'' the spy boss says of Dulmatin and Patek. ''But it's a matter of getting there in time. They could be inside Mount Dajo but to get there even with choppers, they would know we were coming and move on.''

From heavily fortified Camp Teodolfo Bautista, the American-backed local forces are waging an extraordinary, ''surgical'' military manhunt for some of the world's most wanted terrorists, believed to be hiding out on this 300sqkm volcanic island at the Philippines' southern tip.

It is an operation involving up to 8000 local troops and hundreds of US special forces and intelligence experts. Operation Ultimatum has ''liquidated'' a handful of ''high-value targets'' including Khadaffy Janjalani, the leader of local al-Qa'ida-linked Islamist terrorist outfit Abu Sayyaf, believed to now be under JI control.

But Dulmatin -- with his $US10 million ($12.9 million) US government bounty (double the reward offered for Janjalani), reputation for being the ''genius'' bomb technician behind the 2002 Bali attacks and responsible for a subsequent string of deadly attacks in the southern Philippines and possibly around Asia -- is enemy No1.

The wealthy Javanese was a protege of master JI bomb-maker Azahari bin Husin, who was killed in a shootout with police in Indonesia in late 2005. Azahari's death left three Bali bomb masterminds on the run -- Dulmatin, Patek and fellow Indonesian Noordin Mohammed Top, who has narrowly evaded capture on several occasions.

Dulmatin -- also known as Mutkamar, Amar Usman, Djoko Supriyanto and Joko Pitono -- came to the southern Philippines some time in 2003. The region has been home to a violent Muslim insurgency, led by the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is now involved in official peace talks, for more than three decades.

Dulmatin's mission was to develop the southern Philippines chapter of JI and share bomb-making techniques with his Abu Sayyaf brothers, after he directed the 2002 Bali attacks that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Abu Sayyaf is a shadowy local kidnap-for-ransom group held responsible for killing hundreds through bombings, beheadings and abductions, targeting Christians and foreigners.

Now, after several years establishing bomb-training camps in central Mindanao funnelling technical expertise and al-Qa'ida-sourced money to their ideological brothers, Dulmatin and Patek are virtual prisoners on one of the world's most dangerous and isolated islands.

They are confined to Jolo, an autonomous 94 per cent Muslim region of Mindanao, where dense jungle and cloud cover can limit visibility to 1m.This week, as reported by The Australian, the military confirmed Dulmatin was wounded in a fierce gun battle that killed Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Solaiman.

Dulmatin escaped on foot, probably with Patek. Yet according to the top Philippines and US army commanders, the JI pair have been cornered.

In a series of exclusive interviews with The Weekend Australian, top Philippines and US commanders and intelligence officials offered unprecedented insight into their tactics, shared intelligence capabilities and conviction that on the frontline of the Southeast Asian war on terrorism, they are winning.

A group of deep penetration agents inside the Abu Sayyaf and JI cells on Jolo are funnelling prized intelligence about the location and activities of the Bali bombers and their 100 or so Abu Sayyaf cronies. The fugitives have been forced to change locations every six hours -- sometimes disguised by wigs and burqas -- in small groups to evade detection.

The army even knows that Dulmatin has hidden two of his sons away on nearby Basilan island, probably with the widow of Abu Sayyaf founder Abburajak Janjalani. ''This is a Philippines battle and the Philippines forces are winning,'' says US Colonel David Maxwell, the US commander of joint special forces operations in the southern Philippines.''

The Philippine navy has done a tremendous job with the ability for Dulmatin and Patek to move by water. They have really isolated Jolo so well and it is probably difficult for them to move off the island.''But where are they going to go? You look at what the armed forces of The Philippines is doing in central Mindanao. Are they going to go back after they were evicted by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front? Basilan (island) is very secure these days, they can't go back there.''

They will have to leave The Philippines and right now their best hope is to continue to remain here on Jolo because they've got a low level of basic support network that has allowed them to survive. But it's only a matter of time.

The armed forces of The Philippines are going to win over all the sanctuaries and they are going to win over all the people and eliminate the ability for them to survive on the island.''The fight on Jolo is being keenly watched by the Australian armed forces and their bosses in Canberra, who are negotiating a status of forces agreement with The Philippines.

On Monday, Australian ambassador to The Philippines Tony Hely and defence staff will be in Zamboanga City, the closest mainland Mindanao city to Jolo, to meet with local officials.For now, Australia is limited to providing intelligence support and training in bomb detection, hostage rescue and maritime security. But once the defence pact is signed later this year, Australian forces could conduct large joint training exercises and potentially send forces to assist in Jolo.

General Eugenio Cedo, commander of Philippines forces in Western Mindanao, said he would warmly welcome Australian military support in the south. But he and a handful of top military brass are surprised that Australia has not joined the US and Philippines in offering generous rewards for the capture of Dulmatin and Patek.

This week they urged Canberra to join in.The Philippines military admits there have been some missteps in its hunt for Dulmatin. In October, it arrested Dulmatin's wife on Jolo, with two of the bomber's children. She offered valuable intelligence, including listing at least seven JI operatives in the south, before being deported to Indonesia.

''We shouldn't have arrested the wife,'' says army Captain Abdurassad Sirajan. ''He was probably with her the same day. You put the wives under surveillance and monitor them, then you come much closer to capturing the high-value targets.''Maxwell agrees that Dulmatin and Patek ''must be captured or neutralised'', despite the difficulties presented by the complex jungle terrain.

''The Philippines forces are trying to win the hearts and minds of the local population. But sometimes it's like chasing ghosts,'' he says.''Also, the culture on Jolo is very complex. The Abu Sayyaf group has strong family ties, and strong tribal ties (to the local warrior Tausug tribe). Where there are blood relations and religious connections, those ties remain.''

As a palpable sign of the intense US interest in winning this battle against terrorism, the Hawaii-based commander of American special forces in the Pacific, Major General David Fridovich, US President George W. Bush's special state department adviser on ''reaching out to the Muslim world'' Karen Hughes and US ambassador to The Philippines Kristie Kenney, all came to Jolo island this week.

The Americans are waging a costly fight against poverty, exclusion and discrimination on the island, with a host of multi-million-dollar aid projects, ranging from internet-equipped schools and roads to medical centres, ambulances and hospitals.

It is their calculated battle for hearts and minds on Jolo, a desperately poor community of 600,000 where fresh water, electricity and basic healthcare are rarities.Yet for all the aid and work to shield civilians from becoming ''collateral damage'', Islamist ideology and hatred of Christians, foreigners and particularly Americans, the Philippines former colonial masters, are still powerful forces on Jolo.

Gesturing towards Jolo's grand mosque, a persistent stronghold of radical Muslim muftis preaching violent jihadism, Sirajan, a Muslim and Jolo-raised former Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander, says ruefully: ''Even if we have killed Janjalani and all the terrorist leaders like Dulmatin and Patek, there will still be terrorism here.''It is an ideology, it is ingrained religious extremism, it is a part of life here.'' (The Australian)

Sayyaf Tagged As Behind Jolo Bombing

Scenes on Jolo island on Monday 17 Oct 2006, a day after suspected Abu Sayyaf militants detonated a powerful homemade bomb inside the provincial police headquarters and wounding three people. (Mindanao Examiner/Juan Magtanggol)

JOLO ISLAND (Juan Magtanggol / 17 Oct) – The Philippine military on Monday tagged the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group as behind the weekend bombing in Jolo island that wounded three people.

“The urban terrorist group of the Abu Sayyaf operating in Jolo could be behind the latest bombing,” said Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, a military spokesman.

He said a motorcycle taxi laden with explosives was detonated near a small hotel called Peace Keeper’s Inn and a military hospital at around 7.10 p.m.

"An explosion occurred at Peace Keeper's Inn and three people are wounded in the blast. Initial investigation disclosed that an IED (improvised explosive device) was placed inside a plastic bag and left at an unattended tricycle parked in the area," Bacarro said.

The hotel is located inside the provincial police headquarters in the village of Asturias in downtown Jolo. The deputy governor of Jolo island, Lady Ann Sahidula, said there were no reports of casualties. "There was a blast near the hotel's beauty parlor.

Authorities are still investigating the motive of the blast," she said in a separate interview.The Abu Sayyaf was also tagged as behind the bombing in March of a Church-run cooperative store that left nine people dead and 20 injured in downtown Jolo.

Philippine Army Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, on Monday inspected the bomb site and spoke to his commanders, ordering them to intensify the hunt for the Abu Sayyaf and the two JI bombers.

He also spoke to soldiers in the towns of Indanan and Patikul, urging them to get Dulmatin and Patek and Janjalani dead or alive.“Don’t give them any chance. Hit them hard and finish them off,” he said.

Troops on Sunday also disarmed two homemade bombs, assembled from mortar rockets, left at a market in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province, days after a spate of bombings blamed on the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiya terror network killed at least 14 people in the restive region.

The bomb, concealed in a backpack, was discovered by patrolling soldiers and militias at around 3 a.m. at the gate of the Agora market in downtown Pagadian, according to Bacarro.

Pagadian, a bustling city and center of trade and commerce in Western Mindanao, was bombed in the past and authorities had linked the Abu Sayyaf and radical members of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to the attacks.

But intelligence officials said they see the signature of the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya in the foiled bombing. "There is a signature and it points to the Abu Sayyaf and the JI. We can't say at this time whether the MILF was a part of this attempt to blow up the market," one army intelligence officer.

The bombings last week in the southern region were believed in retaliation to the arrest of the Indonesian wife and two children of Jemaah Islamiya bomber, Dulmatin, in Jolo island.

Istiada Oemar Sovie and her two boys ages 6 and 8 were arrested after Filipino soldiers pursuing Dulmatin raided a terrorist hideout in Patikul town.Dulmatin and his companion Umar Patek, who is also hiding in Jolo island are both wanted by Indonesia for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people and the 2003 JW Mariot hotel bombing in Jakarta.

A homemade bomb exploded Oct. 11 in Cotabato City, the 3rd in less than 24 hours in the restive Central Mindanao region, where two bombs killed at least 14 people at a market in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province and in the busy business center of Makilala town in North Cotabato province.

The governor of North Cotabato, Emmanuel Pinol, linked an MILF leader -- Basit Usman -- to the attack in Makilala town, but the rebel group strongly denied the accusation. "We have nothing to do with the bombings.

The MILF is currently negotiating peace with the Philippine government and we are sincere with the talks. There is a cease-fire agreement and the MILF is not part in any of these terrorist activities," a rebel spokesman, Eid Kabalu, said.

The military said the Abu Sayyaf headed by Khadaffy Janjalani is protecting Dulmatin and Patek in Jolo island. As many as 31 Jemaah Islamiya militants are believed hiding in the southern Philippines, particularly in Mindanao where the MILF is actively operating, it said.No group or individual claimed responsibility for all the bombings. (Mindanao Examiner)