ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 15 Apr) Security forces have stepped up the hunt for Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines following a raid on two terrorist hideouts in Zamboanga City, officials said on Saturday.
Soldiers and policemen stormed an ice plant in Rio Hondo, a village near downtown Zamboanga City notorious for criminals and drug gangs, and seized 300 pieces of blasting caps and C4 explosives on Thursday.
The second raid in Baliwasan village yielded electronic timers, but the two places were apparently abandoned by terrorists before security could arrive, said Army Colonel Edgardo Gidaya, commander of an anti-terror task force here.
"These explosives belong to the Abu Sayyaf. We have information about that and there is an ongoing operation against the terrorist group," he said, adding, civilian informants were providing them intelligence about the Abu Sayyaf.
Gidaya said most of the blasting caps were made in India. It was not immediately known how the explosives were smuggled into the southern Philippines, but the country's coastline is twice the length of that of the United States and is extremely difficult to monitor.
Authorities believed that more Abu Sayyaf explosives were hidden in Zamboanga City and that the terrorists were planning an attack on civilian targets.
"The Abu Sayyaf is up to something deadly and we are trying to prevent this from happening. We are appealing to citizens to help us by providing authorities with information about suspected terrorists, or suspicious persons and even abandoned packages in public areas. We need the cooperation of the public," Gidaya told the Zamboanga Journal.
On Tuesday, troops also killed a key Abu Sayyaf bomber and his father in a firefight in the outskirts of Zamboanga City. Troops gunned down Amilhamja Ajijul and his father Andalul after soldiers raided their hideout in the remote Curuan district, about 48 km northeast of Zamboanga City.
Four other men were also arrested by the raiders. Ajijul headed the Abu Sayyaf's urban terrorist group and was blamed in the killing of a US soldier participating in a joint military drill in a bomb attack on a roadside eatery in Malagutay village in Zamboanga City in 2002, and the bombings of Shop-O-Rama and Shopper's Central department stores here that left dozens of civilians dead and wounded.
His group was also implicated in the twin bombings in downtown Zamboanga City last year that injured 26 people. The military also implicated Ajijul in the kidnapping of US citizen Jeffrey Craig Schilling in Jolo island and dozens of Filipinos in Basilan in 2000.
Just this week, an Abu Sayyaf bomber was killed after tinkering with an explosive he planted on a road to attack patrolling troops in Maimbung town in Jolo island. The powerful blast mangled the man's body.
The Abu Sayyaf is on a US list of terrorist organizations and Washington has offered as much as $10 million bounty for the capture of the group's chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and other known leaders.
Soldiers and policemen stormed an ice plant in Rio Hondo, a village near downtown Zamboanga City notorious for criminals and drug gangs, and seized 300 pieces of blasting caps and C4 explosives on Thursday.
The second raid in Baliwasan village yielded electronic timers, but the two places were apparently abandoned by terrorists before security could arrive, said Army Colonel Edgardo Gidaya, commander of an anti-terror task force here.
"These explosives belong to the Abu Sayyaf. We have information about that and there is an ongoing operation against the terrorist group," he said, adding, civilian informants were providing them intelligence about the Abu Sayyaf.
Gidaya said most of the blasting caps were made in India. It was not immediately known how the explosives were smuggled into the southern Philippines, but the country's coastline is twice the length of that of the United States and is extremely difficult to monitor.
Authorities believed that more Abu Sayyaf explosives were hidden in Zamboanga City and that the terrorists were planning an attack on civilian targets.
"The Abu Sayyaf is up to something deadly and we are trying to prevent this from happening. We are appealing to citizens to help us by providing authorities with information about suspected terrorists, or suspicious persons and even abandoned packages in public areas. We need the cooperation of the public," Gidaya told the Zamboanga Journal.
On Tuesday, troops also killed a key Abu Sayyaf bomber and his father in a firefight in the outskirts of Zamboanga City. Troops gunned down Amilhamja Ajijul and his father Andalul after soldiers raided their hideout in the remote Curuan district, about 48 km northeast of Zamboanga City.
Four other men were also arrested by the raiders. Ajijul headed the Abu Sayyaf's urban terrorist group and was blamed in the killing of a US soldier participating in a joint military drill in a bomb attack on a roadside eatery in Malagutay village in Zamboanga City in 2002, and the bombings of Shop-O-Rama and Shopper's Central department stores here that left dozens of civilians dead and wounded.
His group was also implicated in the twin bombings in downtown Zamboanga City last year that injured 26 people. The military also implicated Ajijul in the kidnapping of US citizen Jeffrey Craig Schilling in Jolo island and dozens of Filipinos in Basilan in 2000.
Just this week, an Abu Sayyaf bomber was killed after tinkering with an explosive he planted on a road to attack patrolling troops in Maimbung town in Jolo island. The powerful blast mangled the man's body.
The Abu Sayyaf is on a US list of terrorist organizations and Washington has offered as much as $10 million bounty for the capture of the group's chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and other known leaders.
2 comments:
A menace to society. One would thought (hope) that ASG will just go away. A bunch of goons/low-lifes without ideals would simply die, i can't believe these bastards are still around terrorizing the good people of the south.
Dear Alex,
Thanks a lot for your comment, we appreciate it.
Manila should address the Abu Sayyaf problem aggressively. It started out as a small group and the government ignored the Abu Sayyaf, until the terrorists pillaged Ipil town more than a decade ago, and lately linked with al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.
Ed.Zamboanga Journal
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