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September 4, 2006
Philippines: Fourteen Dead In Army Battle With Islamists On Jolo
News from ABS-CBN and Reuters AlertNet, from AKI , the BBC and Associated Press via the Jerusalem Post reports that a firefight has taken place between members of the army and rebels from the Islamist terror group Abu Sayyaf on the island of Jolo in the maritime province of Sulu in the Philippines.
The gun battle took place earlier this morning, and six army personnel have been killed, along with eight of the Islamists. 77 people are said to be wounded. The incident happened as the army tried a final campaign to flush out the leader of Abu Sayyaf, Khaddafy Janjalani, who is believed to be hiding in the southern part of the island.
On August 1 the base camp of the rebels had been bombed, followed by a ground offensive, near the town of Indanan. On August 9 there was further fighting, at the base of Mount Daho, where the Islamists had taken refuge.
As we wrote earlier, the military are trying to capture Khadaffy Janjalani, who has a $10 million bounty on his head from the US Rewards for Justice scheme. Also being hunted are two important leaders of the Jemaah Ismiyah terror group, who had been taking refuge with Abu Sayyaf leaders in the Liguasan marsh in the large island of Mindanao. In November and again in January, the Abu Sayyaf base in the marsh had been bombed, leading to several leading Abu Sayyaf rebels, and also the JI men, to flee to Jolo/Sulu.
The two Jemaah Islamiyah operatives are Dulmatin and Umar Patek who are wanted for their role in the October 2002 bombings on Bali, which killed 202 people. the Us is offering a bounty of $10 million for Sulmatin, and $1 million for Umar Patek.
Today, Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo said to reporters: "We believed that we had struck the main Abu Sayyaf group. We were told the high-value targets such as Khaddafy Janjalani, Umar Patek, Dulmatin, Radullan Saheron and Abu Solaiman were in the group that we've encountered."
Since late July, nearly 5,000 troops have been battling with more than 200 members of Abu Sayyaf on the island of Jolo. Since August 14 soldiers and police have been killed, and the rebels have lost 18 members.
During three hours of fighting this morning, six soldiers were killed and 21 more were wounded. Eight rebels were killed and 56 of their number were injured.
The army used helicopter gunships, which fired rockets at the rebels, forcing them to retreat further into the mountain scrubland. The battle ended around 7 am.
Abu Sayyaf is notorious for its kidnappings and beheadings of its victims. Khadaffy Janjalani and four other Abu Sayyaf leaders are wanted for the Dos Palmas kidnappings, in which 21 people were kidnapped from a resort by Abu Sayyaf in May 2001. Three US citizens were among those taken. 40 year old Guillermo Sobrero was beheaded, as were 15 other Filipino hostages. Two US missionaries, Gracia and Martin Burnham, who were on holiday, had also been abducted. On June 7, 2002, a rescue attempt failed, Martin Burnham was killed, and his wife was injured.
The group's most ambitious attack came on February 27, 2004, when they set offf a bomb on a ferry in the Bay of Manila. In the ensuing fire, 116 people died.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at September 4, 2006 9:29 AM
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