Thursday, March 22, 2007
Military, defense chiefs lead destruction of seized rebel rifles (4 p.m.)
MANILA -- The Philippine military and defense chiefs, armed with metal cutters, led the destruction on Thursday of thousands of assault rifles seized mostly from communist guerrillas - a symbolic act in an effort to halve rebel forces in three years.
Military chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said government forces were on track in their campaign to cut the communist New People's Army's 7,000-strong guerrilla force in half by 2010, leaving the insurgents weak enough to be regarded as a police problem.
The 120,000-strong military, traditionally in charge of external defense, has been leading efforts to crush the 38-year-old communist rebellion for years. Mounting rebel attacks prompted police to take on a larger role in the counterinsurgency, including combat assistance, starting last year.
"Some would even criticize us for taking a very ambitious timeline but, we assure you, the way we look at it, we can go for a 2010 deadline," Esperon told The Associated Press in an interview.
"By that time, they would not be able to launch major tactical operations and the police can take care of them," he said.
Wearing black aprons, gloves and protective eyewear, Esperon, Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane and army chief Lt. Gen. Romero Tolentino took assault rifles and grenade launchers from a stack of more than 1,600 weapons and cut them to pieces with electrical saws during an army anniversary celebration.
They were among 53,800 rifles and grenade launchers, many old and rusty, that were seized from communist rebels and al Qaida-linked militants during clashes and rebel surrenders in recent years. About half were no longer usable and will be destroyed, while the rest could be repaired, Tolentino said.
Esperon also presented to journalists a dozen of about 200 locally assembled army jeeps and armored vehicles that will be used against insurgents.
Esperon acknowledged that the communist rebels, considered the country's leading security problem, still wield considerable firepower but said the military's overwhelming numbers and a retraining program would help rout the rural-based Maoist insurgents. (AP) |
