Arroyo: Troops on the verge of wiping out militant group
PHILIPPINES: Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said
on Tuesday that troops were on the verge of wiping out the country's
most violent Muslim rebel group as one soldier was killed and 24 wounded
in fresh clashes.
More than 6,000 soldiers, backed by U.S. intelligence and equipment,
are fighting on the island of Jolo in the south to flush out about 200
Abu Sayyaf militants holed up in the interior.
The Abu Sayyaf, linked to the regional militant network Jemaah
Islamiah, has been blamed for the worst militant attack in the
Philippines, a 2004 bombing of a ferry near Manila that killed over 100
people.
Four Jemaah Islamiah militants, including two suspects in the 2002
Bali bombings, are also believed in hiding with the Abu Sayyaf on Jolo.
"We must stand fast and take the fight with them to their lairs and
sanctuaries," Arroyo said in a discussion with Cabinet officials aired
live on national television and radio.
"Terrorist leaders and their cohorts are falling one by one. We are
on the verge of wiping out the notorious Abu Sayyaf group permanently."
The Abu Sayyaf, known for kidnap and ransom, has long been based on
the islands of the Sulu Sea, which lies between the southern Philippines
and eastern Malaysia.
Several operations launched by the military, especially on the larger
islands of Jolo and Basilan, have failed to curb the group as the rebels
easily find sanctuary in interior villages.
On Jolo, a Marine lieutenant was killed and 24 soldiers were wounded
when security forces clashed with about 100 Abu Sayyaf in mountains near
Maimbung and Patikul towns on Monday, a military spokesman said.
Since Aug. 1, about 20 soldiers and police officers have been killed
and 80 wounded in the offensive on Jolo.
An estimated 50 rebels have also been killed but less than a dozen
bodies have been recovered. On Monday, troops seized about half a tonne
of ammonium nitrate, a chemical commonly used in making bombs, from a
ferry plying between Jolo and the major southern port of Zamboanga.
Arroyo asked the public to remain vigilant to thwart attempts by
militants to stage diversionary attacks elsewhere in the Philippines,
encouraging people to report suspicious persons or cargo in bus
stations, airports and seaports.
Manila, Tuesday, Reuters. |