AFP: RP SAFE FROM TERROR STRIKES, MILITARY FOCUSED ON NPA, SAYYAF
MANILA, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008 (STAR) By James Mananghaya - The nation is safe from foreign terrorists, the military said yesterday.Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Armed Forces public information office chief, said security forces are focused on internal threats like the New People’s Army and the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
“We are doing our best to prevent such incidents from happening,” he said, referring to the terrorist bombing in Pakistan that killed 53 people over the weekend.
Torres further said allied countries in Southeast Asia are in close coordination to monitor foreign terrorist organizations.
The Philippines is a US ally in the global campaign against terrorism.
Since August 2006, the military has been hunting down the Abu Sayyaf band responsible for a series of terrorist attacks, as well as the kidnapping of foreigners.
Troops have also been running after two Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah bomb experts: Dulmatin – who goes by one name – and Umar Patek, who are both wanted for the terrorist bombing in Bali, Indonesia in 2002.
On Sept 4, 2006, Abu Sayyaf leader Khaddafi Janjalani was killed in a clash with Marines in the jungles of Patikul, Sulu.
His spokesman, Jainal Antel Sali alias Abu Solaiman, was slain in another encounter with Army Special Forces, also in Sulu.
The military also warned that rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte could resort to terrorism to divert the attention of troops.
Help for injured Pinay President Arroyo has ordered agencies to immediately extend assistance to the Filipino woman reportedly injured in the terror attack in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was directed to help Ummkulson Khan-Haider, who was reportedly injured in a powerful blast that hit Marriott Hotel where she works as a receptionist.
Haider was reportedly critically injured in the attack attributed to al-Qaeda-linked militants. She is reportedly confined at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
“We are finding out what assistance can be extended to the Filipina through our agency in Islamabad,” Ermita said.
The victim’s sister appealed yesterday to the government for help as no word has reached the family on her condition.
Mariam Khan-Guiral said she and the rest of the family only learned about Haider’s condition through her brother who is based in Saudi Arabia.
She said the DFA has not yet given any report regarding her sister.
“Please don’t abandon my sister. We heard that she sustained injuries in one of her eyes. How can she work?” Guiral told ABS-CBN’s “Umagang Kay Ganda.” - Paolo Romero
Kato-led MILF rebels torch day care, health center By John Unson Tuesday, September 23, 2008
COTABATO CITY – Followers of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Commander Ameril Umbra Kato burned a day care center, a health center and 16 other houses in Mamasapano, Maguindanao Sunday night.
Mamasapano Mayor Datu Akmad Ampatuan, chairman of the municipal peace and order council, said two groups perpetrated the attack in Barangay Dagungan in the same town, one under Musa Wahab and the other under foreign-trained bomber Basit Usman.
Wahab and Usman are both known subordinate-commanders of Kato, chief of the MILF’s 105th Base Command.
“It’s sad to see the day care center and the health center turn to ashes because the two facilities were serving poor Muslim villagers in Barangay Dagungan,” Ampatuan said.
“We are appealing to them to show their sense of sensitivity and patriotism to the normal standard of human behavior. Certainly there is no justification for bombing an elementary school,” Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said in a press briefing.
Ampatuan said the municipal police are now documenting the incident in preparation for the filing of criminal charges against the two commanders.
Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said military units in Mamasapano are also preparing a separate report on the arson to the government’s ceasefire committee.
Ando said soldiers in Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan and North Cotabato have tightened security in areas vulnerable to MILF attacks after the Ramadan, which is to end with the sighting of the new moon next week.
All-out war looms after Ramadan The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has announced that it is bracing for bigger offensives from both the MILF and the New People’s Army (NPA) in the southern part of the country after Ramadan.
“It is what you call the lull before the storm. Something is brewing while everything is silent,” a military officer who requested anonymity said.
The MILF rebels have reportedly also been silent after the massive attacks launched by its leaders Kato and Adbulraman Macapaar in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte last month.
The same source likewise noted that there has also been a lull in the attacks launched by communist rebels in Southern Mindanao, particularly in the area covering Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte.
“Both the MILF and the NPA are just strengthening their forces for a much bigger action when Ramadan ends next month,” the same source said.
The MILF and the NPA have reportedly forged an alliance to fight the government, especially with the collapse of the peace negotiations with the two rebel groups.
Nowhere to hide The military, however, believes that Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, is running out of space to run as government troops close in on his hideout in Lanao del Norte.
“Bravo’s noose is being tightened. It is just a matter of time before the MILF rebels in the area will be decimated and their leaders taken by operating government forces,” said Army 104th Infantry Brigade commander Col. Benito de Leon.
De Leon said an encounter between elements of the 32nd Infantry Battalion led by Col. Edwin Respicio and a band of at least 20 rebels took place at Poona Piagapo, Lanao del Norte at around 9:00 a.m. yesterday.
A 15-minute firefight ensued, forcing the rebels to retreat towards the forested area of Poona Piagapo.
“Pursuing troops clearing rebel positions recovered a blood-stained Belgian-made FN FAL 7.62 rifle, an M203 grenade launcher tube, rocket-propelled grenade rounds, rifle grenade rounds, damaged hand guard of an M-16 rifle, assorted ammunitions and rebel uniforms,” De Leon said.
“There were no casualties on the government side but I understand several MILF rebels were either wounded or killed but their remains could have been retrieved by withdrawing rebels,” he added.
Propaganda mileage Meanwhile, the military has charged the MILF of spreading false information – accusing soldiers of pillaging civilian houses – to build up hatred against the government troops and gain sympathy for the fleeing rebels.
The MILF, in a statement, claimed 20 soldiers were killed while 10 others, including two junior officers, were wounded in the series of encounters in the border of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur near the former rebel Camp Bilal.
The MILF claimed that the military is getting aggressive in its operations against its fighters and accused the troops of burning 42 civilian houses separately Saturday in the areas of Calanugas, Piagap towns in Lanao del Sur, Poona Piagapo, Pantao Ragat, and Munai in Lanao del Norte.
“These are complete lies and baseless. It’s part of the propaganda of the MILF to sow fear and hatred against the military troops,” Col. Adane Adriatico, spokesman for Task Force Tabak based in Lanao said.
Adriatico said only one soldier was killed in the series of fighting since Saturday while seven rebels identified with Bravo had died.
The casualties came from three encounters by the 35th and 43rd Infantry Battalions.
The soldiers recovered one rebel body while most of the rebel casualties were dragged away, Adriatico said.
Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido, Task Force Tabak chief, said the MILF tried to discredit the military because of the full support showed by civilians in Lanao.
“Everybody here wants us to go (after the criminals) and nobody is sympathizing with them,” Atendido said.
Atendido also reiterated that the troops are strictly following the ceasefire with the main MILF faction.
“There’s a ceasefire with the main MILF and there is no ceasefire with the criminals. We have made it clear with the MILF leadership that the military is after only the three criminal groups,” he said.
Adriatico said fighting also erupted Sunday afternoon against the splintered groups of Bravo at Barangay Tanglaw, Poona Piagapo.
There was no immediate report of casualties but the troops found bloodstain traces in the rebel’s harbor area and a generator set. – With reports from Roel Pareño, Lino Dela Cruz, Edith Regalado, James Mananghaya, Jaime Laude, Cecille Suerte Felipe
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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