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Tuesday, April 10, 2007
2 terror leaders evade raiding troops
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Philippine troops captured three suspected al Qaeda-linked militants but missed two terror leaders, including an Indonesian wanted for his alleged involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings.
Government troops swooped down Monday on the Abu Sayyaf group's hideout in the hinterland of Sulu, a regional military spokesman said, but their high value targets -- Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomber Umar Patek and Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon -- were able to elude the dragnet.
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In an interview at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. was not entirely affected by the escape.
"That's how it goes -- win some, lose some, get some, lose some," said Esperon.
Esperon said troops from the US-trained 3rd Light Reaction Company and Military Intelligence Group-Western Mindanao raided the terrorist group's lair at 5:20 a.m. Monday upon receiving information that Patek and Hapilon were holed up in the area.
However, troops did not catch the two but captured three Abu Sayyaf members and confiscated two M16 rifles from their possession.
Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) information officer Major Eugenio Batara Jr. said the military has yet to determine the identities of the three men.
"The operation was actually targeting some higher value targets but it looks like the higher value targets have left earlier. It was supposed to be Hapilon and Omar Patek, but you can be assured that the operations will go on, no letup," Esperon, meanwhile, said.
Asked how credible their information was, Esperon said: "We know that they are in Sulu." The military chief, however, did not elaborate.
Brigadier General Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the military's Joint Special Operations Task Force, said "technical intelligence" from American forces in Mindanao indicated that the two terrorist leaders had been in the lair.
"Our troops would not be deployed if there is no good intelligence (information)," Pabustan said in a telephone interview.
The official said the troops walked for three hours until they reached the terrorist lair. Upon reaching the area, they closed in on a cluster of three houses and came across the three Abu Sayyaf men, he said.
"We caught them sleeping. They were not able to fire," Pabustan said of the men, whose identities were not immediately known.
When accosted, Pabustan said the three shouted, apparently to warn Patek and Dulmatin. He said the two might have been staying in nearby huts that were later found in a vegetated area. "They shouted, alarming the occupants of the two other houses," he said.
Batara said Filipino troops trained by US forces are combing the area in search for the fleeing local and foreign terrorists.
Patek has a US $1 million bounty on his head and is one of two Indonesian JI members wanted for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 tourists, mostly Australians. He is reportedly being protected by the homegrown terror group Abu Sayyaf in Sulu. Another Indonesian bomb expert, Dulmatin, is reportedly also holed out in Sulu with the group.
Hapilon is reportedly the new Abu Sayyaf chieftain, following the death of Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman. The US Government offered up to US$5 million reward for his capture.
A massive US-backed military offensive has targeted the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo since August. Janjalani and several other militants were killed in clashes with troops but about 400 other militants, including Indonesian terror suspects, remain at large in predominantly Muslim Jolo, about 900 kilometers south of Manila.
Washington has offered hefty rewards for the capture or killing of remaining Abu Sayyaf commanders and Indonesian militants in Jolo. (Ulysses E. Israel/Bong Garcia/VR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (April 10, 2007 issue)
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