Civilian killed, village chieftain wounded in Basilan attack

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 20, 2010) Gunmen shot and killed a civilian and wounded a village chieftain in an attack Wednesday in the restive province of Basilan in the southern Philippines, police said.

Police said the victims were driving a motorcycle when the gunmen attacked them in Sengal village in Lamitan town. It said the driver of the motorbike, Jamrud Kuranding, was instantly killed in the attack while the village chieftain Jainudin Dulla is wounded and rushed to a private hospital in nearby Zamboanga City.

“There is an investigation going on,” said Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, the regional police chief.

Dulla is the chieftain of Balas village also in Lamitan town and the attack occurred ahead of Monday’s village polls in the country. It was not immediately known if the attack was connected to political rivalry or not.

Just early this month, motorcycle gunmen also killed a poll official, Entong Musa, in Basilan’s Isabela City.

Musa, an election officer in Tuburan town, was fatally shot on October 2 as he was walking in San Rafael village.

Basilan is one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region where elections are traditionally violent. The province, just several nautical miles of Zamboanga city, is also a hot bed of Abu Sayyaf insurgency. (With a report from Jun Bernardo)

3 soldiers killed in Sayyaf ambush in southern Philippines

Army soldiers patrol Basilan province in the southern Philippines. Police said three soldiers were killed Thursday, September 16, 2010 in an ambush by al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 16, 2010) – Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to al-Qaeda terror network killed three army soldiers in an ambush Thursday in the restive province of Basilan in the southern Philippines, police said.

Police said the soldiers were patrolling the village of Bohe Lebung when the militants attacked them at around 6:15 a.m. The soldiers belong to the 32nd Infantry Battalion, it said.

It said the attackers were followers of Nur Hassan Jamiri and Long Sulayman, both had been tagged as behind the spate of ambuscades and kidnappings-for-ransom in Basilan, one of five provinces under the troubled Muslim autonomous region.

The fighting lasted about 30 minutes. It was not immediately known whether any of the ambushers were killed or wounded.

Army troops have been deployed in Basilan, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City, to help marine and police forces in fighting the insurgents.

Philippine authorities said the Abu Sayyaf also has links with the Indonesian terror group called Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine court orders arrest of former lawmaker

Mayor Cherry Lyn Akbar, the widow of slain Congressman Wahab Akbar, touches her husband's coffin during his burial at Isabela, the capital of the island province of Basilan in the southern Philippines. Wahab Akbar was among those killed in a bombing outside the Philippine legislature in Manila. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 14, 2010) – A former lawmaker implicated in a deadly bombing at the Philippine Congress three years ago was ordered arrested to answer charges against him, reports said on Saturday.

Three people were killed in the attack which police claimed targeted Representative Wahab Akbar, who was among those who died in the blast in November 2007.

Reports said an arrest warrant has been issued against Akbar’s political foe, Abdulgani Salapuddin, alias Gerry Salapuddin.

Salapuddin, a former Moro rebel leader, previously denied all accusations against him. His whereabouts were unknown, but he had been spotted several times in his home in Basilan province. (Mindanao Examiner)

4 killed in Basilan ambush

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 23, 2010) – Four people were killed and six others injured when gunmen opened fire on a public transport on Wednesday in the restive province of Basilan, police told the Mindanao Examiner.

Police said military forces were sent to track down more than two dozen hooded gunmen who were behind the ambush in Maluso town. “We still don’t know who were behind the attack, but military forces were sent to pursue the ambushers,” said Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, the provincial police chief.

He said the gunmen fled after the ambush and no group claimed responsibility for the attack. The town, he said, is a known lair of Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels blamed for past attacks on civilian and military targets.

“Most of those killed and wounded are civilians,” Mendoza said.
Just early this month, Abu Sayyaf militants killed three men they kidnapped in Basilan’s Sumisip town after their families failed to pay P3 million ransoms.

The trio - Claudio Mananita, Rolando Francisco and Dariel Quintella – were kidnapped on May 27 by Abu Sayyaf gunmen headed by Puruji Indama. Their bodies were discovered by civilians on June 5 in Sukaten village.

Indama’s group was also behind many kidnappings in Zamboanga City and Basilan last year and tagged as behind the series of attacks on government troops in the province.

In April, two government soldiers were wounded in a clash with the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan’s Sumisip town after militants detonated bombs in Isabela City, the provincial capital, and sprayed automatic gunfire on fleeing villagers that left dozens of people dead and wounded. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyaf abducts, decapitates three men in South RP

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 13, 2010) – Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded three men they abducted on a remote village in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, police said Sunday.

Police said the bodies and their severed heads were all recovered in Maluso town where militants with links to Jemaah Islamiya and Al-Qaeda had been recovered Saturday.

“There is an ongoing operation to track down the Abu Sayyaf responsible in the killings,” Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, the provincial police chief, said and blaming the brutal murders to Puruji Indama, which heads a faction of the Abu Sayyaf in restive province of Basilan.

He said the three men were just gathering woods near Abong-Abong village and had been abducted on Friday afternoon and their bodies recovered the next day.

The motive of the killings was unknown, but Mendoza said the victims were all Christians. The attacks came a week after the Abu Sayyaf also decapitated three kidnapped Christian men after their families failed to pay huge ransom in exchange for their lives.

The Abu Sayyaf is small, but the most notorious terrorist group blamed by authorities for the spate of bombings, killings and kidnappings-for-ransom. Dozens of people had been killed in past attacks in Basilan, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

The breakdown of peace and order in the province has been largely blamed by citizens to the failure of military and police to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf and the absence of local government officials who frequently stay in their bungalows in Zamboanga and Manila. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyaf executes 3 kidnapped victims in South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 5, 2010) – Three Filipino men kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants had been executed in the restive province of Basilan, where security forces are pursuing the terrorist group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya, officials said.

Officials said the trio - Claudio Mananita, Rolando Francisco and Dariel Quintella – were kidnapped on May 27 by Abu Sayyaf gunmen headed by Puruji Indama. Their bodies were discovered by civilians on Saturday in Sukaten village in Sumisip town.

“The bodies were discovered at around 9.45 in the morning today and there is an ongoing operation against the kidnappers,” said Brigadier General Eugenio Clement, commander of military forces in Basilan, one of five provinces under the troubled Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.

The kidnappers executed the trio by musketry after their families failed to pay some three million pesos ransom demanded by the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the spate of terrorism and killings in the southern Philippines.

Indama’s group was also behind many kidnappings in Zamboanga City and Basilan last year and tagged as behind the series of attacks on government troops in the province.

In April, two government soldiers were wounded in a clash with the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan’s Sumisip town after militants detonated bombs in Isabela City, the provincial capital, and sprayed automatic gunfire on fleeing villagers that left dozens of people dead and wounded. (Mindanao Examiner)

Brawl mars special polls in Basilan province

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 3, 2010) – Angry villagers mauled four people who were accused of buying votes during a special election Thursday in the southern Filipino province of Basilan, police said.

Police said one man, who claimed to be a member of the election watch dog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, was also arrested by the police for carrying a knife during the melee. The fighting briefly disrupted the elections.

The man also yielded 20-peso and 50-peso bills with the name of a local candidate in Maluso town. Police quickly pacified angry villagers who mauled the four men after they pretended to be poll observers inside the polling precinct, said Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, the provincial police chief.

“Well, the elections were generally peaceful. Dozens of policemen and soldiers guarded the areas where the elections were held,” he said.
Special elections also held in Lanao del Sur province were generally peaceful.

General elections on May 10 did not push through in some areas in Lanao and Basilan, two of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region, due to threats against the lives of election inspectors.

Previous elections in Basilan were marred by violence, fraud and vote-buying by politicians who maintained private armed goons. (Mindanao Examiner)

2 soldiers wounded in Sayyaf clash in Basilan province

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / April 28, 2010) – Two government soldiers were wounded in a clash with al-Qaeda-linked militants in the restive province of Basilan in the southern Philippines, officials said Wednesday.

Officials said the fighting erupted on a village called Baiwas in Sumisip town after Scout Rangers crossed path with Abu Sayyaf militants wearing army and marines uniform. It was unknown if there were casualties on the side of the Abu Sayyaf.

“Two of our soldiers are wounded in the fighting, slightly injured,” said Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command.

It was not immediately known whether the gunmen were among the group that was behind a deadly attack in Basilan’s Isabela City that left more than a dozen people dead.

Abu Sayyaf militants disguised as policemen and army troops detonated bombs outside the Santa Isabel Cathedral and the Basilan National High School and opened fire at fleeing civilians on April 13. A third bomb planted at a roadside was detonated by security forces.

The militants escaped after holding several civilians and used them as shield. Some of them were killed, including a policeman who tried to rescue the hostages. (Mindanao Examiner)

AFP, PNP magbibigay ng dagdag proteksyon sa PCOS, balota sa Western Midnanao

Dumating na rin sa wakas sa Cotabato City ang mga balota na gagamitin sa automated elections sa susunod na buwan. Ang mga balota ay gagamitin sa Cotabato City at Maguindanao province. Sinigurado naman ng militar at pulisya na may sapat na proteksyon ang mga balota at Precinct Count Optical Scan machines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo - Mark Navales).

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / April 25, 2010) – Magbibigay umano ng sapat na siguridad ang militar at pulisya upang maproteksyunan ang mga balotang gagamitin sa halalan sa susunod na buwan.

Naunang dumating ang mga Precinct Count Optical Scan o PCOS machines sa Zamboanga City kamakalawa at sinundan naman ito kahapon ng mga balotang nakalaan sa Zamboanga Sibugay, Basilan, Sulu at Tawi-Tawi.

Sinigurado ng Western Mindanao Command na may sapat na proteksyon ang mga ito.

“Municipal treasurers will receive and transport their ballots to their respective areas. The Task Force Zamboanga (ng Western Mindanao Command) and the Zamboanga City Police Office will provide the necessary security during the turn-over of the ballots,” ani kahapon ni 1st Lt. Steffani Cacho, ang tagapagsalita ng Western Mindanao Command.

Sinabi pa nitong nakahanda na rin ang Commission on Elections regional office sa Western Mindanao at Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao sa anumang karagdagang abiso ng COMELEC Central Office ukol sa mga susunod na delivery ng mga balota.

Nuong nakaraang linggo ay 14 na PCOS machines ang kulang sa delivery ng COMELEC sa Zamboanga City na 424 lamang. Mabuti na lamang at muling binilang ang mga ito sa isang warehouse sa Zamboanga at doon lamang nabatid na kulang ito.

Nagpalusot ang COMELEC na naiwan lamang sa kanilang warehouse sa Laguna province ang 14 na PCOS. Kung hindi nabisto ay posibleng magamit ang 14 PCOS machine sa anomalya. Tinatayang 76,000 PCPS machines ang kailangan sa kauna-unahang automated elections sa bansa.

Wala pa rin tiwala ang publiko sa COMELEC dahil sa mga sari-saring bintang sa poll body mula ng mabuko itong may sabwatan sa pandaraya nuong 2004 presidential elections na kung saan ay nagwagi sa Pangulong Gloria Arroyo. (Mindanao Examiner)

Muslim Organizations Denounce Bombings in Basilan

BASILAN, Philippines - The leadership of the Basilan Ulama Supreme Council based in Isabela City in Basilan province strongly denounced the recent bombings that left scores of civilians dead and wounded.

An emergency meeting was called by Dr. Aboulkhair Tarason, chairman of the Basilan Ulama Supreme Council and concurrent vice chairman of the National Ulama Conference of the Philippines after the April 13 attacks.

The NUCP and the BUSC unanimously expressed deep apprehensions and concern over the new spate of political violence. Tarason condemned the bombing and called on the public to stay vigilant.

He reminded citizens to “be calm in the midst of this unpredictable situation because it can easily bring confusion and misunderstanding among the peace-loving people as well as the different political leaders in the Province.”

Tarason reminded that all places of worship, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, are sacred, and hence must be respected and protected from any forms of harassment and destruction.

One bomb exploded outside the Basilan National High School and the second was detonated in front of the Santa isabel Cathedral.

Aleem Abdulmuhmin Mujahid, an officer of the ZAMBASULTA Regional Management committee of NUCP, said: “Basilan, particularly Isabela City, could have been very peaceful and tranquil if it was to exist without the spurs of sabotage coming from some sectors and groups, particularly from those who do not want peace to reign in the entirety of Basilan.“

Tarason, Mujahid and the officers of the Ulama Council, together with the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy and Magbassa Kita Foundation Inc appealed to authorities and the local government to investigate the incidents and to look into the real motives of the bombing and allay the apprehensions of the public.

The National Ulama Conference of the Philippines is a national network of Islamic organizations and Muslim religious scholars working for peace and development through exercise of moral and spiritual leadership and through encouragement of active participation of the community members in peace-building efforts.

Authorities blamed the attacks to the Abu Sayyaf group.

Troops hunt down Sayyaf in Basilan province

Soldiers guard a village in Isabela City in Muslim autonomous province of Basilan in the southern Philippines. Security forces continue to hunt down Abu Sayyaf militants blamed for deadly attacks Tuesday that left 14 people dead in the largely Christian city. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / April 17, 2010) – Security forces continue hunt down Abu Sayyaf militants blamed for deadly attacks in the restive Muslim province of Basilan in the southern Philippines, police said Saturday.

Troops on Friday battled the Abu Sayyaf in Isabela City and killed three militants near the village of Mesola. Soldiers also detonated an improvised explosive left behind by the Abu Sayyaf blamed for Tuesday’s twin bombings in the largely Christian city.

“There is an operation going on and we are not letting our guards down. We have deployed more police forces to guard vital government installations and protect the civilians,” said Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, the provincial police chief.

Militants on Tuesday detonated bombs and opened fire on civilians fleeing the attacks, but police and military authorities were investigating reports that a politician running for governor in the Basilan could have masterminded the carnage.

The reports linked Mujiv Hataman to the attacks which allegedly targeted another gubernatorial candidate Joel Maturan, the mayor of Ungkaya Pukan town, and his mayoralty candidate Edwin Pantaleta – both were said to be the local favorites.

Hataman denied all the accusations against him and urged authorities to investigate the bombings. Two militants captured in Tuesday’s firefight are now being interrogated by the military in Zamboanga City.

Abu Sayyaf militants in the past were also reported to have been hired by politicians to assassinate their rivals.

Last year, the Abu Sayyaf detonated a roadside bomb in a failed assassination of Governor Sakur Tan, of Sulu province. Two militants captured by the police admitted they were hired by Tan’s political foes to kill him.

In November 2007, suspected Abu Sayyaf militants who were allegedly hired by two politicians in Basilan also detonated a bomb planted at the entrance of the Philippine Congress and killed Representative Wahab Akbar, a former Basilan governor, and three other people. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyafs, militias clash in Basilan province

Government troops guard a village in Isabela City in the southern Philippine province of Basilan where Abu Sayyaf militants disguised as policemen and soldiers detonated bombs and opened fire on civilians on Tuesday, April 13, 2010. Police say 14 people were killed and many more wounded in the violence – three of them militants who clashed with soldiers. Police say clashes again erupted Wednesday in Isabela City between Abu Sayyaf gunmen and government militias. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / April 14, 2010) – Government militias clashed Wednesday with Abu Sayyaf militants tagged as deadly attacks in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, police told the Mindanao Examiner.

Police said the fighting broke out in the village of Begang in Isabela City where the militants disguised as policemen and army troops set off bombs and opened fire on civilians that left more than a dozen people dead.

Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, the Basilan police chief, said militiamen clashed with at least 7 militants who were part of the group that launched attacks on Tuesday.

It was unknown whether any of the militants were wounded in the clash, but they were able to escape towards a rubber plantation where soldiers and policemen have surrounded. One villager was taken hostage by the fleeing gunmen and were using the civilian as shield, Mendoza said.

“Pursuit operation is going. Police and military forces are pursuing the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.

Mendoza said security forces have captured one of the attackers who was wounded in the fighting Tuesday and five more people believed to be supporters of the Abu Sayyaf.

He said a total of 14 people – three of them militants - were killed in the violence in Isabela City.

Police and military have put up checkpoints and road blocks in Isabela to prevent the militants from escaping.

“We have put up checkpoints and road blocks and operations are going on against the terrorists,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)

Soldier wounded in Basilan ambush

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / April 12, 2010) – One soldier was wounded after suspected Moro rebels attacked a group of infantrymen on Monday in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, officials said.

Officials said the attack occurred in the town of Ungkaya Pukan. “The soldiers were returning to their command post when the gunmen attacked them,” said Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a regional military spokeswoman.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the town is a known stronghold of Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf militants.

Cacho said a still undetermined number of attackers were believed killed or wounded after troops exchanged gunfire with the ambushers. (Mindanao Examiner)

Blast hits Zamboanga ahead of Arroyo's arrival

President Gloria Arroyo during a visit Wednesday, March 24, 2010 to Basilan Island, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, where she inspected government infrastructure projects in Tipo-Tipo town. (Photo by Rey Baniquet).

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 24, 2010) – An improvised bomb exploded in Zamboanga City ahead of President Gloria Arroyo’s visit Wednesday to nearby Basilan province in the southern Philippines.

The explosion near the Zamboanga City Hall occurred late Tuesday, but police and military said no one was hurt or killed in the blast. It was unknown whether the explosion was connected to Arroyo’s visit. The blast hit an area where Muslim traders had previously occupied.

The army said the blast was probably pulled off by pranksters, although authorities were still investigating the explosion which damaged a concrete wall.

“That’s nothing serious. It was probably carried out by pranksters,” said Army Colonel Santiago Baluyot, commander of a local anti-terror task force.
The explosion coincided with police announcements that the Abu Sayyaf and Moro rebels were planning to sow terror.

Arroyo arrived at a military base in Zamboanga City on Wednesday and flew by a helicopter to Basilan, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf and Moro rebels, to inaugurate several government infrastructure projects.

Zamboanga had been previously bombed by Abu Sayyaf militants and Moro rebels who are actively operating in the restive region.

While in Basilan, Arroyo met with her political allies, but details of the meeting were unknown. Sources close to local politicians said Arroyo told her allies to campaign hard and ensure the victory of former Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro who is running for President in the May 10 elections.

Teodoro is running under the government coalition Lakas-Kampi parties and popular among many people in Mindanao.

Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, Basilan police chief, said Arroyo also spoke with villagers and assured them of continued government infrastructure projects.

Arroyo’s chopper landed in the town of Ungkaya Pukan and then she motored to Tipo-Tipo town where she inspected the projects.

“The President’s visit is a big success. Basilan officials and villagers welcomed the President and they were all happy that she visited Basilan and inspected various government projects,” Mendoza said. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyaf, MILF attack military post in Basilan province

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 20, 2010) – Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants backed by Moro rebels attacked Saturday a military post and wounded a soldier and three government militias in the troubled province of Basilan, south of the Philippines, officials said.

Officials said the attack occurred at around 6 a.m. in the village of Guiong in Sumisip town.

“Elements of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 together with government militias manning a temporary patrol base were harassed by an undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf and lawless MILF group. One soldier and three militias were wounded,” said Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command.

The motive of the attack was unknown but the military and police had previously blamed both groups for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings in Basilan, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The MILF is currently negotiating peace with Manila, but its fighters occasionally clashed with security forces in the southern Philippines and with both sides accusing each other of violating a fragile truce.

The military always tagged the MILF as lawless group if there are peace talks and terrorists and bandits is negotiations are either suspended or had failed. The MILF, which is fighting for self-determination the past decades, denied any alliance with the more violence Abu Sayyaf group whose members are tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya terror networks. (Mindanao Examiner)

Victims of Basilan rebel attack, Maguindanao bombing get aid

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 5, 2010) – Acting Governor Ansaruddin Adiong of the Muslim autonomous region released some P260,000 in aid for the victims of rebel attacks in Basilan province and a recent bombing in Maguindanao, his spokesman said Friday.

Ali Macabalang said Adiong also condemned the atrocities against civilians in the two provinces which are part of the autonomous region.

“Upon learning about what he has lamented as barbaric attacks on civilians, acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Alonto-Adiong ordered the prompt release of P200,000 for the victims in Maluso, Basilan massacre and P60,000 for the casualties in the bombing apart from medical assistance provided by his subordinate officials,” Macabalang said.

Police and military said a dozen people were killed by rebels in an attack February 27 on a small village in Basilan’s Maluso town. Ten others were wounded in the raid that left several houses burned.

Macabalang said Health Secretary Kadil Sinolinding, who was in Maluso during the attack, took the cudgel to bring some of the survivors to hospital in Zamboanga City. He said Sinolinding witnessed the gruesome state of victims burned inside the houses.

Two people were also killed and four other wounded in a bombing in Maguindanao’s Parang town last week.

“For the victims in the Parang bombing that killed two people and injured four others, Governor Adiong dispatched Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo to hand the cash assistance to the victims’ families and bring the survivors to the regional hospital in Cotabato City,” Macabalang said.

He said Adiong also ordered Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, the regional police cghief, to investigate the massacre and bombing incidents and “see to it that the culprits are brought to the bars of justice.”

“We cannot let the barbaric attacks pass unpunished,” Adiong said. (Becky de Asis and Mark Navales contributed to this report.)

4 soldiers wounded in Basilan blast

A Philippine military armored troop carrier passes by a dirt road in the southern Philippine province of Sulu. Four government soldiers were injured in an improvised bomb explosion on Thursday, March 4, 2010 in nearby Basilan province. The military blames the blast to the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 5, 2010) – Four government soldiers pursuing al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants were wounded when an improvised bomb exploded on a village in the restive province of Basilan, south of Zamboanga City in Mindanao, officials told the Mindanao Examiner.

Officials said the explosion occurred Thursday in the village of Baiwas in Maluso town, an area frequented by militants.

“Elements of the 32nd Infantry Battalion who were conducting clearing operations at a suspected Abu Sayyaf-frequented area in the village of Baiwas in Maluso accidentally set off planted improvised explosive devices,” said Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a regional military spokeswoman.

She said one soldier was also injured in clashes with the Abu Sayyaf on Tuesday in Sumisip’s Pamatsaken village and four more wounded in a land mine explosion in Baiwas village in Maluso town.

“This is continuous proof of the treacherous character of the Abu Sayyaf group and their lack of respect for human rights,” Cacho said.

Last week, more than a dozen people were killed after Abu Sayyaf and Moro rebels attacked a small village in Maluso town. Ten villagers were also injured in the raid.

Authorities linked the Abu Sayyaf to the spate of attacks on civilian and military targets and kidnappings for ransom in the southern Philippines. Basilan is a known stronghold of the militant group. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine soldiers wounded in Sayyaf attack

An unidentified policeman in Sulu province reads the Mindanao Examiner newspaper whose headline links a Singaporean terror man, Mauiya, to the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group which operates in the southern Philippines. The Abu Sayyaf was blamed to Tuesday’s landmine explosion in Basilan province that left three soldiers wounded, says a regional military spokeswoman, Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 2, 2010) – Three government soldiers were wounded in a landmine explosion Tuesday in the troubled province of Basilan, just several kilometers south of Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, officials told the Mindanao Examiner.

“The soldiers, all members of the 4th Scout Ranger Company, were patrolling when the explosion occurred. The Abu Sayyaf was behind the blast,” said Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command.

She said the soldiers were evacuated to a military hospital in Zamboanga City and that security forces were tracking down the Abu Sayyaf in Sumisip town where the explosion occurred at around 7:40 a.m.

Police said fighting was also reported in the village of Baiwas in Maluso town, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Last week, more than a dozen people were killed after Abu Sayyaf and Moro rebels attacked a small village in Maluso town. Ten villagers were also injured in the raid.

Authorities linked the Abu Sayyaf to the al-Qaeda terror network and to the Indonesian militant Jemaah Islamiya and were behind the spate of attacks on civilian and military targets and kidnappings for ransom in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine forces rescue 2 kidnapped Chinese men

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 26, 2010) – Philippine security forces rescued two kidnapped Chinese nationals late Friday in the southern province of Basilan after more than 3 months in captivity, police told the Mindanao Examiner.

Police said the duo - Zi Shun Lu, 51, alias Oscar Lu; and Bo Shung Tan, 27, alias Michael Tan, both from Guangzhou, China – were rescued at around 8:20 p.m. in the village of Binembengan in Sumisip town.

“They were brought to hospital for medical examinations,” Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, the provincial police chief, said.

He did not give details of the rescue, saying, operation is going on to capture the kidnappers.

Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped the Chinese men on November 10 from a plywood factory in Basilan’s Maluso town along with a Filipino worker, Mark Singson, who was later beheaded after his employer Hi-Tech Wood Craft Corporation failed to pay ransom.

The kidnappers headed by Puruji Indama originally demanded P15 million for the release of the hostages. The two foreigners were previously reported to be Filipino citizens, but later investigations revealed they are Chinese nationals and probably illegal workers hired by George Tan, owner of the plywood factory.

Last week, two government soldiers were killed and another was wounded in a landmine explosion while searching for the Chinese men in the village of Pamatsaken in Sumisip town.

Last year, Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped three government teachers - Noemi Mandi, Jocelyn Enriquez and Jocelyn Inion – in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Naga town and brought them to Basilan province where they had been later freed in exchange for ransoms.

Three other state teachers Janette de los Reyes, Freires Quizon and Rafael Mayonado, all kidnapped in Zamboanga City, were also brought to Basilan and released four months later after private negotiators ransom to the Abu Sayyaf.

But a faction of the Abu Sayyaf last year also beheaded a school principal, Gabriel Canizares, in nearby Sulu province after his family failed to raise two million pesos ransom. His head was found at a petrol station in the capital town of Jolo. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine court sentences 3 Sayyaf militants to life in prison

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 26, 2010) – A Filipino court sentenced three al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants to life in prison for the killings and beheading of soldiers in the largely Muslim province of Basilan, south of the Philippines.

One militant - Aramil Sulayman - was also acquitted of the same changes on Thursday, but all four men are still at-large after escaping from a prison in Basilan province in December last year.

The court sentenced the trio - Jemar Tarang, Amil Mandicung and salim Masud - after finding them guilty of the murder charges in the killing of 14 soldiers, many of them beheaded, in a firefight in the town of Al Barka in July 2007. At least a dozen marine soldiers were also wounded in the fighting.

The military previously accused the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in the beheading of the soldiers after straying into their territories while searching for kidnapped Italian Catholic priest Giancarlo Bossi.

Bossi, of the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions, was kidnapped by rebels, after celebrating mass June 10, 2007 in the village of Bulawan in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Payao town. He was freed in Lanao del Norte province the next month in exchange for huge ransom. (Mindanao Examiner)