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Targets
The AFP earlier said its target in Indanan was Akmadul Jumdail, alias Doc Abu, who is wanted for his involvement in the beheading of troops, and JI members Marwan, a US-trained Malaysian bomber with a $5-million bounty, and Mauwiyah.
Burgos said it was possible that there could be a high-value target in Indanan.
“This is a known ASG lair, and we would not have conducted aerial bombings if we were not positive that this was an ASG lair. The corpses were in uniform and we recovered several personal belongings that might give clues about the occupants of the lair,” he said.
Asked if the military was bracing for retaliatory attacks, Burgos said: “Our security forces are proactive. The AFP and PNP are in constant coordination in terms of not only operation but in preventing any retaliatory attacks.”

“We know we must be a step ahead, so the most important thing is to have good intelligence,” Burgos said.

He said the lawless elements were now “on the run,” and that being scattered forces, they would take some time to regroup.

Operations elsewhere

While government forces were clearing and mopping up in Indanan, Burgos said other troops were conducting continuous operations in other areas in Mindanao to gather information about the outlaws and hunt them down.
He said he could not reveal operational details.

Asked about reports of an impending military attack in Al-Barka town in Basilan province, site of the Oct. 18 encounter with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) renegades that left 19 Army soldiers dead, Burgos said the information was sensitive.

“First of all, there’s a ceasefire mechanism. We will not just enter the area without coordination. There’s always coordination,” he said. No military action would be made on MILF communities without prior consultation with the peace panel, Burgos added.

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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Tuesday rejected calls from government to surrender MILF deputy commander Dan Laksaw Asnawi and his men who allegedly killed 19 soldiers in a clash in Basilan on Oct. 18.

“We cannot surrender him. Asnawi is accused of something criminal he did in the past. In the principle of justice, it means that he is presumed innocent until proven guilty. That means that there must be due process," MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar told reporters on Tuesday.

Asnawi is wanted for his alleged involvement in the beheading of Marine soldiers in 2007. The soldiers were out to serve a warrant against Asnawi and about 10 men, including some Abu Sayyaf members, when the fighting ensued in Al-Barka town.

Earlier in the day, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the MILF should “stand aside" if it does not intend to help the government track down the armed men involved in the clash.

Jaafar questioned government’s motive in “forcing the issue" despite the lack of a court decision on Asnawi’s case. He said the MILF will cooperate with the government once the guilt of Asnawi and his men has been established.

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Jihadists kill 14 Philippine marines, behead 10
More on this story. "Militants kill 14 Philippine marines; behead 10," from Agence France-Presse:

BASILAN, Philippines - Islamic militants killed 14 Philippine marines searching for a kidnapped Italian priest during a major gunbattle, and later beheaded 10 of them, the military said on Wednesday.

The troops were ambushed on the southern island of Basilan by a joint force from the Philippines’ main Islamic rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, a marine spokesman said.

Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Caculitan said 14 marines were killed in the eight-hour clash, increasing an earlier death toll after more bodies were recovered. Ten had been discovered beheaded, he said in Manila.

“All 10 marines earlier reported missing have been found dead,” Caculitan told reporters, without explaining a discrepancy in earlier numbers.
“All were beheaded,” he added.

"Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks..." - Qur'an 47:4.

He said earlier six were still missing after the gunbattle with about 200 militants near Tipo-Tipo town on Tuesday.

Some of the beheaded marines had been found by provincial authorities in Basilan and been turned over to the military, other marines said.
Another nine were injured in the clash.

Intelligence reports said Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi, 57, was being kept in an area where MILF forces were known to operate and the troops had been sent in to investigate, said regional marine commander Ramiro Alivio.

About 80 marines clashed heavily with 300 MILF militants backed by Abu Sayyaf fighters, after arriving there early Tuesday, said Colonel Alivio.

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Iqbal also admitted that MILF rebels scouring the area after the firefight recovered 11 headless bodies -- compared to Alivio’s figure of 10 -- and turned these over to the authorities.

Iqbal could not explain why the soldiers were beheaded.

“I received the report that our troops beheaded seven Marines,” Iqbal said. “We are investigating and determining the identities of those involved. We have an existing policy not to harm any captured enemy.”

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MILF officials were blaming the military for not coordinating with them when they entered the MILF area, Caculitan said while the area might have been MILF, a lapse in coordination was “not a go-signal to consider attacking Marine troops.”

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Asnawi is wanted for his alleged involvement in the beheading of Marine soldiers in 2007. The soldiers were out to serve a warrant against Asnawi and about 10 men, including some Abu Sayyaf members, when the fighting ensued in Al-Barka town.

Earlier in the day, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the MILF should “stand aside" if it does not intend to help the government track down the armed men involved in the clash.

Jaafar questioned government’s motive in “forcing the issue" despite the lack of a court decision on Asnawi’s case. He said the MILF will cooperate with the government once the guilt of Asnawi and his men has been established.

'The process'

“If its validated… that that person committed a crime, the validation is positive, the MILF and government will collaborate to effect the surrender or arrest of that person, that is the process," he said.

Jaafar said the Special Forces troops of the Army “did not coordinate with the MILF, they ignored the (ceasefire) mechanisms, ceasefire agreement… What we should do is investigate the incident to determine who are responsible (for the violation)… There is a provision in the mechanism that calls for the sanctioning of a violation, may that be from the government side. It is stated there who should impose the sanction," he said.

Meanwhile, AFP Western Mindanao Command spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang said the government will exhaust all means and will work with peace negotiators for the arrest of Asnawi and his men.

“It's actually out of the hands of the AFP already," Cabangbang said. He pointed out that “the MILF is not calling for war, the government is not calling for war. Why is it that the media is discussing an all-out war scenario?"

"We are still prioritizing (the peace process), our priority now is making the mechanism work…The (peace) mechanism is working, both panels are talking. This can be solved if the negotiations are continuous. It’s just a matter of agreeing how it will be carried out," Cabangbang explained.

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MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang called on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front yesterday to “cooperate or stand aside” as the military conducted operations against criminal elements, including MILF commander Dan Laksaw Asnawi who has been declared a fugitive from justice.

MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar, however, said they would not agree to the demand to surrender Asnawi unless the government follows the mechanisms agreed upon by the two peace panels.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte reminded the MILF that providing protection to lawless elements and fugitives from justice was against the ceasefire agreement between the government and the Islamic rebel group.

“We have made it clear from the onset that this is not against the MILF as an entity but against lawless elements. Either they cooperate or stand aside and let our law enforcers do their job,” Valte said in a press briefing.

She said it would be up to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to conduct select and targeted strikes against lawless elements in line with President Aquino’s directive for “all-out justice” for the 19 soldiers slain in Al-Barka, Basilan last Oct. 18.

Members of the Special Forces were out to serve arrest warrants on Asnawi, MILF leader Long Malat, and Abu Sayyaf group leader Furuji Indaman outside the MILF’s camp or “area of temporary stay (ATS)” in Sitio Baquisong, Cambug village, when they were met with gunfire by Abu Sayyaf bandits aided by MILF fighters.

As regard claims that the charges against Asnawi were trumped up, Valte said “there is no other recourse but to defend himself in the court.”

She said the peace process with the MILF would continue but amending the Constitution to accommodate the Muslim rebel group’s demand for a sub-state would be unlikely.