Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Helicopter gunships blast Moro rebel hideouts as military pushes offensive (12:37 p.m.)
MANILA -- Military helicopters fired rockets at the southern jungle hideouts of al Qaida-linked groups as more than 1,000 troops launched a fresh offensive against the militants, officials said Wednesday.
The Southern Command (Southcom) said the operation was directed at the "top-of-the-list terrorist groups" - the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) - and their leaders on Jolo island, in southern Sulu province, a bastion of extremist guerrillas.
Elusive Abu Sayyaf leader Khaddafy Janjalani and a number of militants belonging to the JI, an Indonesian-based group also linked to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, have been sighted on Jolo in recent months, military officials have said.
Janjalani's presence has raised concerns that guerrillas may be plotting attacks against Philippine and US troops, who maintain a presence on Jolo island as part of their counterterrorism training, focusing on humanitarian missions including building schools, fixing roads and improving the water supply.
Helicopter gunships fired rockets late Tuesday in the vicinity of Indanan town, said Brigadier General Juancho Saban, commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade. A military statement said Abu Sayyaf leaders were reportedly converging in the area.
Ground troops also were involved in the assault, but military officials didn't offer details. There were no reports of casualties but Saban confirmed that about 1,000 residents were moved to safety.
Indanan was the scene of sporadic gunbattles and shelling late last year, forcing thousands of villagers to evacuate.
"We have been planning and working for months to find and track the terrorist leadership in Sulu and the time is now," the military statement quoted Southcom Chief Gabriel Habacon as saying.
"Those (terrorist) individuals will either give up, be captured or be killed through our action," Habacon said. "This will not be a quick battle, but it will be one where we will be decisive and victorious."
The Abu Sayyaf group, on a US terrorist list, is notorious for ransom kidnappings, beheadings and bombings, including a February 2004 attack that gutted a ferry and killed 116 people in one of Southeast Asia's worst terrorist attacks.
Previous US-backed offensives have reduced the number of guerrillas from about 1,000 several years ago to an estimated 400.(AP) |
