Philippine Marines to purse Basilan jail escapees.

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Philippines: Are Abu Sayyaf and MILF joining forces?

Probably the answer is no. However there are elements in the MILF who obviously sympathise with the Abu Sayyaf. They are so disenchanted with the peace process that they have gone back to armed struggle. It is surprising that so far the MILF has managed to avoid the tag of terrorist. The NPA Maoist insurgents however have been put on the terror list by the US and this causes difficulty with negotiations.
In this action it seem probable that rogue elements in the MILF warned the Abu Sayyaf what was coming and as a result there were a lot more casualties in the AFP than otherwise would have happened. Abu Sayyaf has been around for decades and the NPA even longer. Arroyo has always been poised to eliminate them!


from the August 17, 2009 edition -
Philippines: Are two militant groups joining forces?
Philippines government alleges MILF involvement in a firefight last week with members of the militant Abu Sayyaf, calling into question a cease-fire with the rebel group.
By Jonathan Adams
The Philippines government has stepped up calls to eliminate Abu Sayyaf after clashes last week with the home-grown militant group killed 23 government soldiers and wounded 25 more.
The violence has also cast doubt on the durability of a recent cease-fire between the government and insurgents from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), since members of the latter are suspected to have reinforced Abu Sayyaf.
On Saturday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called for the "annihilation" of Abu Sayyaf on the island of Basilan (click here for a map of the region), where the clashes took place, according to the Inquirer, a Philippines daily.
The Philippine Star added that the government would conduct a probe of the day-long firefight on Basilan.
The probe will look into the alleged participation of a number of Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters to reinforce the Abu Sayyaf Group.
If the MILF militiamen indeed had engaged the soldiers, this could be a serious violation of the agreement of cessation of hostilities between the military and the MILF to give way to the resumption of their peace talks.
Razon stressed that the MILF leadership has already expressed willingness to help in the investigation to the incident.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that 400 government troops engaged about 150 Abu Sayyaf militants at one of their main camps last Wednesday. A unit of marine reinforcements took heavy casualties when it encountered a group of fleeing militants, according to a commander quoted by the AP.
The AP said that a MILF spokesman had confirmed that 10 MILF members were among the dead. But the spokesman said "they were not with the Abu Sayyaf and only happened to be in the area when the fighting erupted."
The incident underscores the sometimes blurry lines between the insurgent group and Abu Sayyaf.
The Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf is considered a terrorist organization by the Philippines, the US, and other governments. It's the main target of counterterror operations assisted by a few hundred US soldiers and advisers.
The MILF has been struggling for decades for greater autonomy and self-determination for Muslims in the southern Philippines. In recent years they've engaged in on-and-off peace talks with the government. The US does not consider the MILF a terrorist group.
The MILF officially denies links to terror groups and flatly denies engaging in terrorist attacks on civilians. But the International Crisis Group has detailed links between radical MILF elements, Abu Sayyaf, and the Indonesia-based terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.
In an editorial Monday, the Inquirer noted that the Philippines military had notified the MILF of its plan to attack the Abu Sayyaf base – a precaution taken to avoid an inadvertent clash with MILF forces. It suggested that the MILF tipped off the Abu Sayyaf to the raid, and then joined in on Abu Sayyaf's side.
We have reason to believe that the Abu Sayyaf's reinforcements did not consist only of the bandits' relatives and neighbors coming to their rescue, but also of MILF regulars—some of whom, indeed, may have been relatives or neighbors of the bandits themselves.
[Chief of the Western Mindanao Command, Maj. Gen. Ben] Dolorfino explained why at least 10 MILF men ... had been slain: "There is no such thing as part-time [Abu Sayyaf,] part-time MILF."
Dolorfino did not say those words as an act of bravado ... We see them, in fact, as a direct question to the MILF: If you want peace, why didn't you prevent the ambush?

Bribes used to get relatives to turn in militants: Philippines

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Arroyo orders investigation into killings of civilians by soldiers

This is from the International Herald Tribune. There is another article on the situation in Reuters but not as informative. Many people distrust the AFP and this would be especially true in Muslim areas. The early reports certainly do not look that good. This is an area where US troops are active supposedly limited to humanitarian and training activities. The US presence is also very much resented not just in the Muslim area but by many throughout the Philippines who see the country as too much under the influence of the U.S. However, the U.S. has close links to the AFP in the war on terror.

Philippine president orders investigation into killings of civilians by soldiers
By Carlos H. Conde
Sunday, February 10, 2008
MANILA: President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines has ordered an investigation into the killings last week of seven civilians and an off-duty soldier by Philippine military personnel in the southern province of Sulu.
"The instruction of the president is to have a credible investigation," Gilberto Teodoro, the defense secretary, told reporters Saturday. He also disclosed that at least 50 of the soldiers had been restricted to barracks pending the completion of the investigation.
The Philippine military said last week that its soldiers had encountered a group of militants from the Islamist group Abu Sayyaf in the village of Ipil, in Sulu, early Feb. 4. In the ensuing firefight, it said, three terrorists, two soldiers, seven civilians and one off-duty soldier were killed. Four of those killed were children and other minors, Sulu officials said.
Survivors and relatives of the dead, however, said the victims had been deliberately killed. One survivor, Rawina Wahid, widow of the off-duty soldier, told Teodoro in a meeting last week that soldiers had tied her husband's hands behind his back and shot him while he was facedown on the ground.
She said the soldiers had allowed her to accompany the body of her husband, and those of the other people killed, on a boat to Jolo town, and claimed to have seen American as well as Philippine soldiers on the boat just before she was blindfolded. That allegation has led to outraged condemnations from Muslim and leftist groups that oppose the U.S. military presence in the southern Philippines.
Rebecca Thompson, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy here, said American soldiers do not take part in combat operations in the Philippines. "They are here at the invitation of the Philippine government to share information and work with the Armed Forces of the Philippines on humanitarian and civic projects that benefit the people and benefit the local community," The Associated Press quoted her as saying.
Two units took part in the Ipil raid: the army's Light Reaction Company and the navy's Special Warfare Group. Both units have received training and logistical and intelligence assistance from the U.S. military.
U.S. military personnel have been stationed in the southern Philippines, where Islamist extremist groups such as Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah operate, since 2002.
Abdusakur Tan, the governor of Sulu, said last week that his office was preparing to file charges against the Philippine military.
The Commission on Human Rights, which sent a team to the island last week, said its initial investigation had found that most of the civilian victims had been killed while sleeping and that there were no signs of an exchange of gunfire.

Armed Forces of Philippines lose 25 troops

This would be big international news if the casulaties were Americans! The AFP have been trying to round up the Abu Sayaf fighters for some time but without much success it seems. The group now seems to be joined by another rebel force that have given up on the peace process. There are many separatists in Mindanao and especially in the Sulu archipelago where these actions are taking place. Many commentators are questioning the competence of some Philippine generals. Troops manage to get themselves ambushed regularly it seems. The AFP face not only the Muslim separatist rebels but also the Maoist New People's Army. The latter are active in many rural parts of the Philippines.

Gov’t losses rise to 25 in Sulu
Seen as single biggest casualty in a day




BY VICTOR REYES


TWENTY-FIVE soldiers died and 17 were wounded in twin clashes with forces of the Abu Sayyaf and the Misuari Breakaway Group in Sulu Thursday, the biggest troop casualty in one day.

AFP public information office chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro yesterday said that according to intelligence reports, 27 ASG men died and 25 were wounded.

At around 7:45 a.m. Thursday, ASG and rogue MNLF forces ambushed an 11-man team from the 33rd Infantry Battalion in Dayuan village in Indanan town, killing 10 soldiers and a boy.

At around 3:30 p.m., pursuing elements of the 33rd IB caught up with the two groups in the village of Tampaking in Maimbung town, resulting in the killing of 15 soldiers.

Bacarro said the two groups were under Radullan Sahiron, Dr. Abu Pula and Albader Parad, the three top Abu leaders in Sulu.

Bacarro said: "As far as I can remember, this is our biggest casualty in a day – 25."

Last July 10, 14 Marines died in an ambush by secessionist forces in Al-Barka, Basilan. Ten of the dead were later beheaded.

Bacarro said Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has ordered two Army battalions to augment eight Army and Marine battalions in Sulu.

Bacarro said the 33rd IB would be pulled out from Sulu and replaced by another Army battalion.

Bacarro said Jemaah Islamiah leaders Dulmatin and Omar Patek might be with the ASG and MBG forces.

"The troops were pursuing the group of Parad, Dr. Abu and Sahiron. So they were pursuing an enemy who were in defensive position and of course that is one tactical difficulty or disadvantage that our troops encountered," said Bacarro.

He said two MG-520 attack helicopters and two UH-1H or Huey helicopters have been sent to provide aerial support.

Bacarro said latest military information shows there are at least 200 Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu.

He said they have no available data on the strength of the MBG, a group loyal to former Moro National Liberation Front chairman and ARMM Gov. Nur Misuari. Misuari is in detention on charges of rebellion.

Bacarro said the military cannot say if the re-alignment of forces of Sahiron, Dr. Abu and Parad was meant to divert military focus from the ongoing operations in Basilan.

"In Basilan, we are running after the fugitives, we are running after the perpetrators of the beheading, while here in Sulu, we are running after the ASG," he said.

He said there have been no reports of residents displaced by the fighting.

He said Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has directed the National Disaster Coordinating Council to look at contingencies or probable displacements in the area.

Esperon said successive clashes with the ASG and MBG show that government troops are closing in on them.

Esperon said the ASG is now down to 370 men, mostly deployed in Sulu.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, in a statement, assured the families of the dead and wounded soldiers would be assisted. – With Jocelyn Montemayor