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3 Abu Sayyaf bandits killed in Sulu air strike
10/30/2011 | 05:07 PM

   
Three suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed in a military air strike Sunday in the outskirts of Indanan town in Sulu province, a Mindanao-based military official said.

OV-10 bomber planes dropped bombs on the enemy lair at Karawan village at around 6:30 a.m. after the military received credible information on enemy presence, said Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the military’s Western Mindanao Command.

Cabangbang said the area was “the harboring site" of Abu Sayyaf leader Umbra Jumdail alias Dr. Abu.

Jumdail’s group has been linked to the kidnapping of Filipino-American Gaerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, 42, her 14-year-old son and 19-year-old nephew at the Sacol island in Zamboanga Sibugay province last July. The mother was released in Maluso town in Basilan early this month.

“We have been operating against this group for some time already," Cabangbang said. “From time to time, our Marines in the area are conducting operations especially when there are solid information."

After the air strike, Marine soldiers proceeded to the area and recovered three cadavers, all clad in military uniforms. Cabangbang said the bodies were found about five meters from the impact area.

Also found in the area were two M16 rifles, an M14 rifle, a cal. 45 pistol, personal belongings, assorted military uniforms, civilian bags, and laminated sacks. — KBK, GMA

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ZAMBOANGA City, Philippines—Three suspected gunmen were killed during a military bomb run in an area of Indanan, Sulu, against the Abu Sayyaf and suspected Jemaah Islamiyah members early morning Sunday, authorities said.

Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, police director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said OV-10 Air Force planes rained bombs on Mt. Tukay in Barangay (village) Karawan starting around 6:30 a.m.

“The target was the group of Akmadul Jumdail alias Doc Abu and JI members Marwan and Mauwiyah,” Latag said by phone.

Colonel Jose Johriel Cenabre, deputy commander for Marines operation of the Naval Forces in Western Mindanao, said Marine soldiers – backed by the Army’s 61st and 63rd Reconnaissance Force – had recovered the bodies of the slain Abu Sayyaf members from the area where the bombs were dropped.

Cenabre said four assorted firearms were also recovered from the same area. These consisted of two M16 rifles, an M14 assault rifle and a rocket launcher.
Cenabre said sporadic clashes were still ongoing and that details were scant as of Sunday afternoon.

Latag said that based on information reaching them, the Abu Sayyaf also suffered injuries but the actual number was not clear yet.

He said he had no information on casualties from the government side.
Latag said the Sulu police force had been placed on high alert due to the clashes in Karawan.

The Karawan air strike took place barely three days after the military ended a similar campaign in Zamboanga Sibugay, which resulted in the fall of an alleged camp of suspected kidnap leader Waning Abdusalam.

During a visit here last week, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Eduardo Oban said the military’s campaign against lawlessness would continue.

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Western Mindanao Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbag said that two of the three recovered fatalities from Sunday’s bombing on the Abu Sayyaf camp in Barangay (village) Karawan were ASG sub-leaders Ben Wagas and Apo Mike. Another ASG member recovered was identified as Abu Abad.
Cabangbang, in an update Monday, said that two more bandits were reported killed and were identified as Sali Madarang and a certain Andag.

The fatalities were said to be under ASG leader Umbra Jumdail alias Dr. Abu, he said.

Cabangbang said Dr. Abu had reported links with Jemaah Islamiyah members Marwan, a Malaysian national, and Mauwiyah, a Singaporean.

Joint Task Force Sulu Island Commander Brigadier General Romeo Tanalgo said that clearing operations from the attack started about 6 a.m. Monday.

He added that they still have to validate reports that deaths have reached at least 10, with Dr. Abu wounded, but so far they “do not have the evidence” to back up the reports.

Tanalgo estimated that about 30 to 40 members of the ASG were encamped in the area.

There were also no internally displaced persons, as the nearest civilian community was one kilometer away, Tanalgo added.

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MILF to hit back only if attacked
By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
6:14 pm | Monday, October 31st, 2011
4share23 18

MANILA, Philippines—In the wake of intensified military operations in Mindanao, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whose forces had been accused of coddling “lawless elements,” said its fighters had been ordered to stand down and hit back only if attacked.

“We are avoiding (conflict with the government) … And in fact we have already ordered our men on the ground to be in a defensive position. That’s the order on the ground,” MILF spokesperson Von al Haq said.

He said that had been the MILF position since October 22 when it saw that its engagements with the Armed Forces had begun to escalate. The order, he added, was issued by Sammy Al-Mansoor, chief of staff of the MILF’s armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.

“We are ready (for any attack). We are not afraid of that. What we fear is the displacement of innocent civilians,” Al Haq said in a phone interview with reporters at Camp Aguinaldo.

Clarifying what the MILF meant by “defensive position,” he said “if we are pushed to the wall, we have to fight back.” “That’s very clear and practical,” he said.
He said MILF combatants were more than capable of defending themselves, but most of those in encampments attacked by government forces were civilians.
“We are mandated to protect the lives and property of our civilians, regardless of where they belong, whether Christian or Muslim,” Al Haq said.

He admitted, however, that there were also feelings of apprehension about a government offensive on MILF itself. The military had said the targets of its “all-out justice” campaign were lawless elements, some of them with links to the MILF.
“Of course (there are concerns). Where do we go? Visayas and Luzon cannot accommodate us. We have nowhere else to go,” Al Haq said.

The spokesperson also maintained the MILF position not to surrender Dan Laksaw Asnawi, an MILF commander among those involved in the beheading of 14 Marines during a 2007 clash in Al-Barka town in Basilan.

He was arrested in the aftermath of the beheading but escaped from the Basilan provincial jail in December 2009 with 30 other inmates.

On October 18, Army soldiers looking for Asnawi’s group to serve an arrest warrant ran into MILF rebels who killed 19 of them, setting off more skirmishes and prompting the government’s “all-out justice” drive against lawless elements, including those being under the MILF’s protection.

“That can’t be done,” Al Haq said of the military’s demand that the MILF turn in Asnawi to the government.

“That’s not in the process. It’s not part of the process that you’re forced your friend and brother to the enemy. With all due respect, there’s nothing in the ceasefire agreement requiring us to give up our comrade,” he said.

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MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) vowed to defend its camps that are recognized by the joint ceasefire committee as the rebels warned Army troops yesterday not to intrude into their “territory” without coordination.

The MILF has ordered its fighters to be ready to defend themselves after the military bared plans to conduct pursuit operations against lawless elements in Basilan.

MILF officials said all signs indicate that the military is preparing to mount an attack on rebel forces led by Dan Asnawi, who was implicated in the killing of 19 soldiers last month in Al-Barka, Basilan.

“We will defend ourselves,” said MILF provincial political officer Abu Majid in a statement posted on the group’s website luwaran.com.

Majid also claimed that Asnawi is not a criminal but “the victim of an unjust justice system where the innocent is charged of a crime that he never committed.”

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ZAMBOANGA CITY ,Philippines  — The military is verifying reports that a Malaysian Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist was among the five militants killed in an air strike launched by Philippine Air Force bombers last Sunday at an Abu Sayyaf camp in Indanan, Sulu.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Tanalgo, commander of the Sulu Island Command and the Joint Task Force Sulu, yesterday said five Abu Sayyaf members, including three sub-leaders, were confirmed killed during the bombing in Mt. Tukay, at the Kawaran complex in Indanan.

Tanalgo said Malaysian JI leader Zulkipli bin Hir, alias Marwan, could also have been killed after his aide was found dead near the Abu Sayyaf camp after the air strike conducted by the 3rd Air Force Division’s two OV-10 Bronco planes.

Tanalgo identified those killed as Abu Sayyaf leaders Ben Wagas, Apo Mike and Abu Abad, whose bodies were recovered.

He said the two others killed were Sali Madarang, said to be the right hand of Marwan, and a certain Andag.

“Madarang was the known right-hand man of Marwan and the air strike was launched after the JI leader was monitored in the area,” Tanalgo said.

“Chances are Marwan is already dead,” Tanalgo added.

icefrog

Nov 1 2011, 03:31 AM

JI leader believed killed in air strike

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ZAMBOANGA CITY ,Philippines   — The military is verifying reports that a Malaysian Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist was among the five militants killed in an air strike launched by Philippine Air Force bombers last Sunday at an Abu Sayyaf camp in Indanan, Sulu.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Tanalgo, commander of the Sulu Island Command and the Joint Task Force Sulu, yesterday said five Abu Sayyaf members, including three sub-leaders, were confirmed killed during the bombing in Mt. Tukay, at the Kawaran complex in Indanan.

Tanalgo said Malaysian JI leader Zulkipli bin Hir, alias Marwan, could also have been killed after his aide was found dead near the Abu Sayyaf camp after the air strike conducted by the 3rd Air Force Division’s two OV-10 Bronco planes.

Tanalgo identified those killed as Abu Sayyaf leaders Ben Wagas, Apo Mike and Abu Abad, whose bodies were recovered.

He said the two others killed were Sali Madarang, said to be the right hand of Marwan, and a certain Andag.

“Madarang was the known right-hand man of Marwan and the air strike was launched after the JI leader was monitored in the area,” Tanalgo said.

“Chances are Marwan is already dead,” Tanalgo added.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?artic...ubCategoryId=63


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Good riddance!!