OT Breakthrough against the Abu Sayyaf Cell of bin Laden. Included in the report is the US Experts assessment of the situation.
I think the best way to deal with the situation is to infiltrate them, take them one by one minimizing civilian casualties. Let the people take some part, offering them rewards for the capture Dead or Alive of the terrorists is getting some results.
Abu leader slain as Sabaya sends feelers
By MICHAEL PUNONGBAYAN
TODAY Correspondent
Soldiers hunting the Abu Sayyaf bandits killed another of their leaders, Ali Manabo, who had a P1-million price on his head, and another bandit in a clash in Basilan Wednesday night. Two other bandits were killed in another encounter in the same province.
The Southern Command chief, Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, said Manabo and Jatar Alfa were killed in the first encounter in a village in Lantawan. In Tipo-Tipo, 18th Infantry Battalion soldiers led by Lt. Col. Dan Lucero killed the other two in a clash with the band led by Suhod Tanajalin.
In the capital, Isabela, officials said a senior bandit leader indicated he might surrender and hand over hostages in his control, but the government remains skeptical of his offer.
The officials identified the leader as the self-appointed spokesman for the bandits, Abu Sabaya, whose band is said to be holding the two Americans kidnapped from Palawan and at least eight Filipinos.
Sabaya has a reputation for ruthlessness, and some accounts have tagged him as having raped, tortured and executed some captives.
Col. Hermogenes Esperon, commander of the troops hunting the bandits, said Sabaya and his men must surrender and hand over the hostages without conditions or the military hunt would continue.
Sabaya has said he is holding Wichita, Kansas, missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and eight coconut farmers seized from a plantation and used as shields against soldiers.
Sabaya is also blamed for the murder of Corona, California, resident Guillermo Sobero, whose beheaded body was found in early October.
On the renewed clashes, Col. Roland Detabali, chief of military operations on Basilan Island, said none of his men were injured. The recent battles have inflicted heavy casualties on the Abu Sayyaf, with nearly 50 of them being killed.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta Jr. said soldiers were patrolling the village of Bacud in Tipo-Tipo when they spotted some 20 bandits, who engaged them in a firefight that killed the two terrorists. "The last encounter we had with the bandits was five days ago. This actually breaks the long lull."
Mabanta said the soldiers located the bandits with the help of informants from the community itself, which is a big help to them. They are pursuing and closing in on them. He expressed confidence that the terrorists would be neutralized soon.
The military could not say if the hostages were with the bands they had encountered.
In Manila, the AFP chief of staff, Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, said the military lacks equipment to fight terrorism and defend the country from outside attackers, a situation that the visiting American military consultants "can see very clearly."
Villanueva, speaking in Camp Aguinaldo, said the assessment made by the 23-man US military group could result in a grant by the US of military aid in the form of equipment and vehicles to the AFP.
The team returned to the United States by way of Honolulu, Hawaii, where they will report to US Adm. Dennis Blair, the commander of American forces in the Pacific.
Villanueva said the AFP lacks vital land and air transport such as helicopters, trucks and modern weapons, electronic trackers and other high-tech gadgets.
The military also lacks "imaging equipment" to allow soldiers to see in the dark, especially in the jungles. All these the military consultants found out.
Villanueva said the US experts did not find everything disappointing, for they have found the country's military very well trained.
The US team was satisfied with the way soldiers led by Cimatu and other commanders were handling the situation in Mindanao, but it was dismayed by the outmoded equipment, like Vietnam-vintage helicopters, and the shortage of equipment," Villanueva said.
Before leaving the country, the team met with Villanueva at the AFP General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo yesterday morning. With AP/TODAY |
