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Saturday, September 09, 2006
Sayyaf stronghold in Sulu bombed
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Government planes bombed Friday the mountain strongholds of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the province of Sulu, officials said.
They said the raid in Patikul town was aimed at flushing out about 200 militants, including two of the most wanted Jemaah Islamiya bombers -- Dulmatin and Umar Patek -- tagged as behind the 2002 Bali attacks that killed more than 200 mostly Western tourists.
Two Pakistani tabligh were also allegedly detained by the military this week in Jolo on suspicion they were terrorists, but local security officials would neither confirm nor deny the report. The foreigners were reportedly preaching when nabbed by soldiers.
Tabligh Jamaat is a movement founded in the late 1920's by Muhammad Ilyas in the Indian province of Mewat. Tabligh in Arabic means "to deliver (the message)" and Tablighi Jamaat claims to revive what they consider as a primary duty of Muslims. They usually limit their activities within the Muslim community and their main aim is to bring spiritual awakening to the world's Muslims.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Friday's military raid in Patikul, but troops were also pursuing militants in the hinterlands of Parang and Indanan near the town of Patikul, where security forces clashed with separate Abu Sayyaf factions on Thursday.
A pair of Philippine Air Force OV-10 bombers attacked the mountains of Patikul just after noontime to pave way for ground assault. More soldiers were sent to the island Friday where tens of hundreds of troops were battling the Abu Sayyaf, officials said.
But winning the war on terror on Jolo island, about 950 kilometers south of Manila, will not succeed unless local town officials actively help in the campaign. Many officials and even civilians fear reprisal from the Abu Sayyaf if they aid the military, although the promise of huge bounties offered by the United States and the Philippines had changed the minds of a few.
Washington offered as much as $10 million reward for the capture of Dulmatin and another $1 million for Patek's head. The US also put up another $5 million for known Abu Sayyaf leaders, including Khadaffy Janjalani, its chieftain. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also offered up to P100 million bounties for the capture of senior Abu Sayyaf leaders -- dead or alive.
At least eight soldiers had been killed and dozens more injured in the weeklong battle in Jolo. One militant was also captured in Thursday fighting that erupted in the hinterland village of Kandulan in Parang town, southwest of the island.
Major General Eugenio Cedo, commander of military forces in Western Mindanao, said the operation against the Abu Sayyaf will continue even as Muslims prepare for Ramadan, Islam's holiest month. "Combat operations will continue until the enemy is neutralized or eliminated," he said.
The military on Tuesday said more than 80 Abu Sayyaf militants had been killed since fighting erupted on Monday in Jolo island. Soldiers were pursuing Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and were trying to capture two Jemaah Islamiya leaders Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both linked to the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia.
Cedo said he ordered a naval blockade in Jolo island to prevent the terrorists from escaping. "We have forces at sea and our boats are patrolling the coasts and the terrorists cannot escape; we will get them sooner or later," he said.
Security forces had already captured Dulmatin's tools, including remote-controlled detonators and other electronic gadgets used in manufacturing homemade bombs, in a clash in Patikul late last month.
The military said the Abu Sayyaf was protecting Dulmatin and Patek in Jolo island, where a small group of US soldiers involved in training Filipino troops an anti-terror warfare were helping the local military in the hunt for Janjalani and Dulmatin and Patek. (Sunnex)
(September 9, 2006 issue)
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