|
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Janjalani group slips past security cordon
By Manuel Quirino
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and his 50 followers have reportedly breached the security cordon set up by the military and the police in Sultan Kudarat province against them, "fresh intelligence reports" reaching the military here said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a middle-rank army officer, citing intelligence reports, said Janjalani and his men are "no longer around" in the coastal town of Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, where they reportedly landed in early July this year.
"Janjalani and his men have eluded the joint military and police dragnet set up right after they were monitored to have landed in Palimbang town," the officer said, adding that the bandits have withdrawn either in Sulu or Basilan.
The report that the bandits recently managed to slip past the security cordon in Palimbang has also reached the office of town Mayor Labualas Mamansual.
Mamansual urged the military to check on the matter in a bid to assure the safety of his constituents who fear that they might be hit in the cross fire in case an encounter would arise between the soldiers and the bandits-if it is not true that the bandits have escaped the security dragnet.
"The report that Janjalani and his men have fled our town is a welcome relief but this must be verified to douse the residents doubts," the mayor was quoted as saying.
It was Mamansual who broke the news that the heavily-armed Abu Sayyaf bandits led by Janjalani landed in a coastal village of his town in early July.
The Abu Sayyaf, which was classified by the United States as an international terrorist, gained notoriety for kidnap for ransom activities and for beheading
several of their kidnap victims, some of whom were foreigners.
Owing to the reported landed of Janjalani and his men, several Palimbang villages later on passed a resolution calling on the military to finish the
bandits off in the municipality.
Responding to the information of the Abu Sayyaf bandits' presence in the town, Brig. Gen. Alexander Yano, 601st Infantry brigade commander, immediately deployed several army battalions in Palimbang, augmented by police forces.
Following the deployment, no actual encounters, however, have been reported between the military and the Abu Sayyaf bandits to date, although Yano on several occasions claimed that they have bombarded the suspected lairs of the bandits with air craft bombs.
At present, the source said the military still maintains a sizeable force in the town despite the reported withdrawal of Janjalani's group to Sulu, a coastal province west of Palimbang.
The source added that the soldiers are still continuously scouring the mountainous portions of the locality to really prove if Janjalani, who carries at least P10 million for his arrest, and his men are no longer around in the area. Sultan Kudarat Gov. Pakung Mangudadatu earlier chided the military for failing to locate the Abu Sayyaf bandits and establish an armed confrontation with the outlaws.
"The military operations in Palimbang town against the bandits have sparked sufferings among the residents.
They were displaced from their villages, at the same time experienced food shortage while at the evacuation centers," the governor said.
He said the military operations against the Abu Sayyaf should be stopped if they could not locate the bandit group, since the civilians are at the losing end of the search.
(November 20, 2003 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click
here. |
|
[ return
to top ]
[ home
]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
|
