| Southeast Asia |
| JI presence in Maguindanao confirmed |
| 2005-03-08 |
| Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan has confirmed the presence of Jemaah Islamiyah members in his province but clarified the terror group has been on the move since they were first spotted last month in nearby Talitay town. Ampatuan was quick to blame some political figures for the purported hosting of the terrorists by a local commander of an armed group that figured prominently in previous attacks in this town. He recalled that the commander, identified in military reports as Ustadz Wahid Tundok, raided last month a military detachment manned by Muslim Army personnel, in Barangay Linantangan in Mamasapano town. Worried over the fate of 51,000 evacuees fighting off hunger and disease in the mountains, legislators from Mindanao on Monday issued an appeal to the government to halt massive military operations against insurgents in Jolo town, Sulu province. "We are asking the government to secure the lives of civilians there. There are 51,000 evacuees now in the mountains, and still growing. And they have no food, no shelter, no medicine," Pimentel told reporters after meeting with Muslim leaders. "These are men, women and children who are non-combatants. We are a little apprehensive [about their safety]," he added. |
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