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Southeast Asia

Police fear team-up of Sayyaf with MNLF

2008-03-26

The Moro National Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu appeared to have been joining forces to force the government into freeing MNLF chairman Nur Misuari, sources said yesterday. Misuari, former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is under house arrest in New Manila, Quezon City. He has been detained since 2002 in connection with rebellion charges filed against him and 11 of his followers. Sources in Camp Crame said that about 600 MNLF and Abu Sayyaf members had a meeting on March 18 at Barangay Tiis, Talipao, Sulu and discussed the release of Misuari. The meeting was attended by MNLF commanders Khaid Ajibon, chairman of the Lupah Sug Revolutionary Committee; Ustadz Khabir Malik, Tahil Sali, Ustadz Mahmor Gardan, Nidzmi Jabbar and Hadji Idjan Adam. ASG commanders Raddulan Sahiron, Albader Parad, Angah Adja, Sihata Latip and Sahid Susukan also attended the meeting. Police said the two secessionist groups brought with them 12 units of 60 millimeter and 81 MM mortars, two 90 and two 57 anti-tank/personnel recoilless rifles. MNLF commander Khaid Ajibon presided over the meeting in observance of the Bangsa Moro Day on March 18. Report from Sulu police office said that the MNLF and ASG had threatened to attack several targets in Sulu towns, particularly Patikul, Panamao, Maimbung and Talipao. ARMM police chief Joel Goltiao expressed disbelief that the MNLF plan would be joining the attack. It would be inconsistent with its intent to pursue implementation of the ceasefire agreement with the government and the continuance of the peace process, Goltiao said. He said that the regional police did not receive any report that the two groups jointly demanded Misuari’s release. But Goltiao ordered police chiefs in ARMM to beef up their defenses and to take active security measures to thwart any attack.

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Southeast Asia

Philippines thwarts rebel attacks on government targets

2008-03-25

(Xinhua) -- Philippine police and military have thwarted an attack on government targets in southern region of Mindanao by the extremist bandits and Muslim anti-government militants, the police announced Monday. The Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao cited intelligence sources saying that top leaders of the extremist group Abu Sayyaf and rogue Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) guerrillas loyal to their jailed chieftain Nur Misuari had plotted to raid military camps and ambush government troops in Sulu province. Goltiao said it was the latest move taken by various anti-government forces to demand the release of Nur Misuari. Abu Sayyaf militants and rogue separatist rebels, including those from the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), used to help and complement each other in battling government troops operating in their respective strongholds in Sulu archipelago and the main southern island of Mindanao. Manila's troops, whose training is partly assisted by the United States, has stepped up the offensive to root out Abu Sayyaf,a listed terrorist organization by both American and Filipino governments, since the beginning of last year. The military managed to bring down the number of Abu Sayyaf bandits to merely 370 at the end of 2007. A handful of rebel leaders were either arrested or killed.

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Southeast Asia

Dulmatin eludes troops in Tawi-Tawi raid

2008-02-01

Government troops on Thursday swooped down the lair of Jemaah Islamiyah leader Dulmatin in Balimbing, Tawi-Tawi but failed to capture the notorious terrorist. The military, however, was able to kill a certain Radi Upao, allegedly a sub-leader of the Abu Sayyaf group who has a P2-million reward on his head for charges of kidnapping, serious illegal detention, and mass abduction, according to Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro. "Alias Dulmatin was able to escape," Bacarro said. In a dzBB report, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police director Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao identified Upao as the killer of missionary Reynaldo Roda. No casualty was reported on the government side, Bacarro said. Roda, a member of the Oblate of Mary Immaculate, was killed Jan. 15 after he fought his abductors who were dragging him to a motorboat in South Ubian town, also in Tawi-Tawi province. Dulmatin is a senior figure in the militant group JI and is one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia. He is believed to be with the Abu Sayyaf group since 2003 and was involved in providing explosive expertise and training other militants.

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Southeast Asia

Fighting spreads in southern Philippines, 21 dead

2007-04-17

Fighting between government forces and rogue Muslim rebels is spreading in the southern Philippines, shattering hopes for peace and threatening local support for a U.S.-backed campaign to flush out militants. A military spokesman said on Tuesday that army commandos were fanning out into the jungles of Jolo island, 600 miles (950 km) south of Manila, to hunt members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) after three days of pitched battle. "Our troops were now pursuing a separate group of MNLF rebels in another part of the island," Lieutenant-Colonel Bartolome Bacarro told reporters. Seventeen rebels, three soldiers and one civilian have been killed since renegade MNLF commander Habier Malik fired mortars at marines on Friday night, triggering fierce retaliation by the military, which dropped 250-pound bombs on his base. Nearly 8,500 families have fled the fighting and thousands crammed into schools and gymnasiums in downtown Jolo, relying on food rations from disaster agencies. In its campaign to destroy the Abu Sayyaf, the most militant of four Muslim rebel groups in the largely Catholic country, the military had been careful to avoid the use of air strikes in order to win round locals, tired of so-called "friendly fire". The troops' use of heavy bombs over the weekend and their targeting of the MNLF, which is seen as having more legitimacy than Abu Sayyaf, could undermine crucial local support. "It's going to complicate things because the MNLF probably have more local contacts, more traction with the locals then the Abu Sayyaf, who tend to be more thuggish," Tom Green, executive director of Pacific Strategies & Assessments, told Reuters. "Going against the MNLF means that a broader spectrum of people are affected because of blood ties, fathers, sons, uncles, brothers, that is going to complicate things." Ustadz Habier Malik, an MNLF field commander loyal to jailed Muslim leader Nur Misuari, fired mortar rounds on a military base in Panamao town on Friday to retaliate against an attack by soldiers on MNLF positions in Indanan. On Tuesday, the national police said seven people were taken captive by the Abu Sayyaf in Parang town, including six men working on a government road project. "The governor of Sulu was negotiating for the release of all seven hostages," said Joel Goltiao, police chief in the Muslim autonomous region, adding armed police officers were tracking down the Abu Sayyaf group behind the kidnapping.

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Southeast Asia

Al-Ghozi’s co-escapee recaptured in Basilan

2007-03-18

An Abu Sayyaf member who escaped with Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi’s from Camp Crame in 2003 was recaptured in Basilan Friday, the military reported Saturday. Merang Abante was arrested by a team of police and marine operatives in Isabela City. Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, police director of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, said Abante has two arrest warrants issued by a Zamboanga City court for kidnapping. Goltiao said the arresting team was led by the Isabela City police chief, Senior Insp. Parson Asadil. Abante was brought to Zamboanga City for investigation and will be turned over to the Zamboanga Trial Court. Al-Ghozi, a Jemaah Islamiah bomb expert, Abante and another Abu Sayyaf member, Abul Mukhim Edris, escaped from the detention center of the PNP Intelligence Group in Crame on July 14, 2003. Their escape was a major embarrassment to the country since it coincided with the state visit of Australian Prime Minister John Howard who had promised support to the country’s counterterrorism drive. Al-Ghozi is one of the primary suspects in the bombing of an LRT terminal on December 31, 2000, that killed at least 26 people and injured scores of others. Edris, said to be a former member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was killed a month after the escape as he tried to flee from government troops manning a checkpoint in Central Mindanao. Two months later, al-Ghozi was killed by policemen at a checkpoint in a remote town in Tigkawayan, North Cotabato.

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Southeast Asia

Suspected Abu Sayyaf bomber's contact falls in Central Mindanao raid

2007-03-14

Government security forces arrested a close associate of fugitive Abu Sayyaf bomber Abdul Basit Usman during a raid Monday in Sultan Mastura, Shariff Kabunsuan province, a regional military spokesperson said. Maj. Randolph Cabangbang, Eastern Mindanao Command spokesman, said the suspect, Acmak Saludin, is also long wanted for a series of bomb attacks in Mindanao just like Usman. Saludin was arrested at his hideout in barangay Tambo, Sultan Mastura, around 2:45 a.m. through the help of government intelligence personnel of the Army's 603rd Infantry Brigade. "He did not resist arrest. We are also looking into his involvement in the bomb attack in Makilala town last year," Cabangbang said. Two improvised explosive devices, two rocket propelled grenades, mobile phones, and an electronic tester were recovered from the suspects' possession. The U.S. government has earlier offered US$ 50,000 dollars or approximately P2.5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Usman. The fugitive bomber is linked to Jemaah Islamiyah and believed responsible for bombings in Makilala town in October 2006 that killed eight civilians and left 30 others wounded. Usman is also implicated in a recent series of bomb attacks in Mindanao. Over the weekend, authorities also nabbed an Abu Sayyaf leader implicated in the kidnapping and beheading of civilians six years ago in Basilan. Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police director Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao said the suspect, Abu Usman, was arrested by joint military and police troopers at the Port of Isabela, Basilan, through a tip from concerned civilians.

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Southeast Asia

Abu wanted for killing plantation workers falls in Basilan

2007-03-14

Government forces have arrested a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf wanted for kidnapping and killing plantation workers in 2001 in nearby Basilan province. Arrested was Al-hari Jakiri, alias Abu Usman, who was among those wanted for beheading nine workers of the Golden Harvest Plantation in Tairan, Lantawan town. Usman was arrested last weekend at the port of Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province. The Abu Sayyaf seized 40 plantation workers to divert the military forces' attention at that time in their pursuit operations against the other terrorist group who seized 20 people, including three Americans from Dos Palmas, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. Of the 40 people the Abu Sayyaf seized, nine were beheaded while one was shot dead. The Abu Sayyafs has also burned some houses of the plantation workers at the time they seized the farmers. Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police director Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao disclosed that Usman is facing three counts of kidnapping with serious illegal detention cases in court. The military's Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) has not issued statement surrounding Usman's arrest in Isabela City. He was placed under tactical interrogation. "Narcisso! My interrogator's pliers, please!" "Sorry, boss! The electrician's not done with them yet!" "Well then call the plumber!"

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Southeast Asia

MILF bares al-Qaeda plot vs ASEAN

2006-12-11

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said on Sunday that al-Qaeda-affiliated militants had plotted to disrupt the 12th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cebu. Eid Kabalu, MILF spokesperson, told the Inquirer by phone that their field commanders monitored the plot, which was hatched by militants active in Mindanao. The ASEAN meet was moved to January next year because of threats from Typhoon Seniang (international code name: Utor) and not because of terror threats, according to Malacañang. But the day before organizers announced the postponement of the Summit, the United States, Britain, Australia and Japan warned of imminent terror attacks in Cebu. Kabalu said the intelligence reports filed by MILF field commanders were not verified but said it was good the summit had been moved to another date so that security could be further tightened. "It was difficult to verify the threat but we monitored it," he said. Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), admitted that militants identified with the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya, who are operating in the region, remained capable of launching attacks outside Mindanao. “The Abu Sayyaf and the JI could easily hire somebody to carry out the attacks for them," he said. But he said the ARMM police had not monitored any plot to disrupt the ASEAN Summit. "We have not monitored reports about terror threats to the ASEAN summit. We have direct contacts with the MILF and those with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)," Goltiao said.

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Southeast Asia

Philippine Muslim Autonomous Region Official Killed in Ambush

2006-10-06

Gunmen yesterday killed an official of the Muslim autonomous region in the southern Philippines, authorities said yesterday. Police said the victim, lawyer Arnel Datukon, was on his way to office in downtown Cotabato City at 8 a.m. yesterday when two gunmen on board a motorcycle peppered his car with automatic rifle fire. "There is an investigation going on and our forces are tracking down the gunmen responsible in this senseless killing," Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, the regional police chief, told Arab News by phone. Datukon was the executive director of the Social Fund Project of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is based in Cotabato City. Witnesses said the attackers were wearing camouflage uniforms, which are widely available in stores in Cotabato City, despite a strict campaign against the use by civilians of these uniforms. Investigators said they were also looking into any link between yesterday’s ambush and a bomb attack last June, which narrowly missed Maguindanao provincial Gov. Andal Ampatuan as his car was passing along the public market of Shariff Aguak town. Authorities blamed the assassination attempt on two leaders of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), who both denied the charges. An attempt by the police to arrest the suspected bombers led to fighting between MILF fighters and militiamen loyal to Gov. Ampatuan. The wife of one of the suspects, Zaid Pakiladatu, was killed later on in an ambush in Cotabato City by unknown assailants.

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Southeast Asia

Philippines arrests 4 hard boyz

2004-06-29

Philippine security forces arrested several suspected Muslim militants who were planning bomb attacks to disrupt the inauguration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, police and military officials said on Tuesday. The arrests come as security forces boost their presence in the capital to guard against threats to Wednesday’s ceremonies and to control protest marches planned later on Tuesday by opposition groups who say Arroyo cheated in May 10 elections. "We got them with the PNP," a military intelligence official who took part in the operation told reporters, referring to the Philippine National Police. Four men were presented to media in the afternoon. The police initially said they had information the suspects were members of the Jemaah Islamiah militant network, but later said they were still investigating the link. "We still have to evaluate," said PNP spokesman Joel Goltiao. Police said in a statement the men were in a group of about 30 suspected militants who had arrived in Manila two days ago from southern Mindanao island with the aim of setting off bombs on Wednesday to disrupt Arroyo’s inauguration. The arrests came a day after the United States gave the Philippines an extra $4 million to boost intelligence-gathering against al-Qaeda-linked militant groups. Security forces in Manila are on alert after a group suspected of links to the political opposition planted three explosive devices last week, adding to security headaches surrounding Arroyo’s inauguration. Police used batons, teargas and water cannon on Tuesday to disperse several thousand opposition supporters protesting Arroyo’s victory over film star Fernando Poe Jr. The military official said the suspects were arrested in Taguig in east Manila, but gave no further details. Troops also recovered five kg (11 lb) of explosives, four petrol bombs, and a notebook containing bomb-making diagrams, he said. On Sunday, U.S. Pacific Command head Admiral Thomas Fargo said the United States remained concerned by the presence in the Philippines of Jemaah Islamiah members.

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Southeast Asia

7 killed in attacks as Philippine polls open

2004-05-10

National polls opened in the Philippines on Monday morning amid reports of scattered violence that killed seven people, with more than 200,000 security officers on high alert. The final pre-election opinion polls showed incumbent President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who strongly backs the US war on terror, pulling ahead of film star Fernando Poe Jr, whose best friend Joseph Estrada lost the job in disgrace three years ago. But the polls also indicated that as many as one-quarter of the electorate were undecided. I'm so confused. I thought Fernando Po was an island? But this Fernando Poe seems to be a man, and no man is an island... A grenade attack killed two people and wounded another outside the campaign headquarters of a mayoralty candidate in suburban Caloocan in metropolitan Manila late on Sunday, said police director Marcelino Franco. No suspects were arrested, he said. There were no immediate details available about who had been killed. In southern Zambonga del Norte province, men opened fire on the convoy of a mayoralty candidate late on Sunday afternoon, killing three supporters and wounding three more, the military said. In a separate attack in the nearby town of Tampilisan early on Monday, gunmen killed two supporters of yet another mayoralty candidate. Election officials also reported an explosion that set off a fire that gutted portions of a building and destroyed election documents in the central town of Taft in Eastern Samar province. Just your normal Philippine election. Reports of abductions and election law violations also ushered in the voting that began at 7am local time (2300 GMT on Sunday). Elections director Ferdinand Rafanan said tens of thousands of election campaign documents loaded in two vans were confiscated by police in the region. Police were also checking reports of vote-buying in one area, he said. SEE: normal Philippine election National police spokesman Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao said the authorities were looking into two reports of abductions of followers of local candidates, including a supporter of a mayoralty candidate in Rodriguez town in Rizal, east of here. Officials say it could take a month before final results are announced because of a lack of computerised voting. One pollster plans to release the results of an exit poll on Tuesday. Mrs Arroyo’s administration and Mr Poe’s camp have accused each other of plots to steal the election, either by cheating or violence. About 230,000 troops and police took up positions before the polls opened to secure polling precincts and guard against violence or terrorist attacks. Last month, police said they broke up a terror cell, foiling what they said were planned bombing attacks in the capital. Also up for grabs are 12 of the nation’s 24 Senate seats and all seats in the House of Representatives, and some 17,000 other posts all the way down to the neighbourhood level.

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Southeast Asia

More Abu Sayyaf Arrests

2004-04-02

The alleged Abu Sayyaf bandit arrested in Quezon City, was an anchorman, until early this year, in a radio station run by the military. Walter Ancheta Villanueva, who was arrested by the police Wednesday in a Quezon City mall, was the anchorman of radio program Light of Peace aired over radio station dwDD. The program, military officials said, was aimed at bridging the gap between Christians and Muslims. Guess which side of the gap he was on. Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, commander of the Armed Forces Civil Relations Service, which oversees the operation of the radio station said Villanueva was indeed a “block timer” at the radio station. "block timer" - scheduler? Damm broadcasters, can't trust any of them :) Corpus said the military and the police are still verifying if Villanueva, a Muslim convert, is indeed a member of the Abu Sayyaf. Bingo! “We are still verifying if Villanueva is an Abu Sayyaf member. If that is confirmed, then I must bear some responsibility for his having been allowed to work in the radio station,” Corpus told Today. While Corpus said he is willing to be held responsible, Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, chief of the Armed Forces public information office, was quick to brush aside observations that there was negligence on the part of the military in recruiting anchor men for the radio station. It's not like it was a sensitive position that required a deep backround check. Villanueva’s radio program was reportedly scrapped in January. In a separate interview, Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, National Police spokesman, said that as far as the police is concerned, it is “positive” that Villanueva is an Abu Sayyaf bandit. However, Goltiao said this has to be confirmed with the National Police Intelligence Group. The police claimed to have confiscated from Villanueva 10 kilos of trinitrotoluene (TNT), wires connected to a dry cell battery and cellular telephone and a 9mm pistol when he was arrested Wednesday. That seems to be pretty good confirmation right there. According to authorities, Villanueva was planning to carry out bombings in Metro Manila. Relatedly, the military’s Southern Command announced the arrest of four alleged Abu Sayyaf bandits implicated in the kidnapping of 54 students and teachers and a priest in Sumisip, Basilan, four years ago. Arrested were Nasir Hapilon, older brother of Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon, who was included on the list of the five most wanted Philippine terrorists by the US; Hamil Abdulbasar alias Kasir Ibrahim, 31; Jumadil Abdulhan, 25 and Julpikar Abdulbasar, 24. Authorities said the four were arrested by a combined team from the Marines, naval intelligence and Military Intelligence Group 9 in their safe house at Rio Hondo Aplaya in Zamboanga City before noon Thursday. Authorities said the bandits were collared after an informant tipped off the police that the four were waiting for a vessel bound for Malaysia. Tap..tap..nope. The military said that based on initial interrogation, Hamid admitted that he was a student of slain Abu Sayyaf leader Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani. "Ouch, yes, he was my teacher! Now put that down!" Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita, concurrent coordinator of the Antiterrorism Task Force, said Abu Sayyaf bandits have been training Muslim converts to carry out terror attacks in Metro Manila. Ermita said six bandits captured this week for plotting “Madrid-level” bomb attacks in Manila had confessed that they were recruiting Muslim converts because they would not stand out and arouse suspicion. Err, just how do you tell a Philippine born Muslim from a Philippine born Catholic by looking at them? The wife of one of the six suspected Abu Sayyaf members had said they were Muslim converts, but denied they were involved in terrorism. She accused security forces of torturing her husband into confessing an allegation quickly denied by Ermita. Islamic community leaders on Friday denounced a wave of arrests of suspected terrorists, accusing the Philippine government of using minority Muslims as “sacrificial lambs.” Relatives of at least two men -- including Redendo Cain Dellosa, who allegedly admitted to a February ferry bombing that claimed more than 100 lives -- said the men had been abducted, framed and tortured. Yeah, yeah, I know, religion of peace, we was framed, lies, lies. Remedios Fatima Balbin, a lawyer for Dellosa, said he cried when she saw him for the first time on Friday, more than a week after he was taken into custody. He claimed he signed a confession to stop being tortured, she said. Police have denied the allegations. “We are now calling on our brother Muslims. . .to unite and condemn these arrests,” said Abdulbasit Marangit, an Islamic preacher in Manila’s Quiapo district, one of the largest Muslim communities outside the traditional Islamic homeland in the southern Philippines. Community leader Charlie de Makota read a statement from the Alliance of United Muslims Against Human Rights Violations and Terrorism, saying the government’s antiterror campaign has caused fear among innocent Muslims. He said Muslim communities won’t protest whenever the government arrests genuine terrorists. "Like the IRA, or the Eskimo Liberation Front! Or anyone who ain't islamic, they're all terrorists, but no muslims, see?" Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., meanwhile, challenged law-enforcement authorities to present to the media the six suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists they have arrested to enable the public to determine the truth behind allegations they were out to bomb shopping malls and trains in Metro Manila.

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