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Southeast Asia

Suspected Philippine militant dies in bomb blast at southern electricity tower

2022-10-26

[BenarNews] An explosion killed a suspected bad boy in the southern Philippines when an improvised bomb he was planting at a power transmission tower blew up prematurely, the military said Tuesday. The blast occurred at a tower of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) near the town of Kauswagan in Lanao de Norte province on Monday afternoon, said Brig. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, commander of Army forces in the area. "The initial assessment of the EOD [explosive ordnance disposal] teams was that a 60mm mortar was used as the primary explosive to topple the tower," Nafarrete said, adding that there were two explosives, and that the suspect apparently "prematurely triggered" the bomb. Security personnel dispatched to check on the cause of the blast discovered the suspect’s remains, Nafarrete said. Beth Ladaga, a spokeswoman for the NGCP, said the earth-shattering kaboom "toppled the steel tower and caused power interruptions in parts of Mindanao." She was referring to the main southern third of the Philippines, which has long been afflicted by various insurgencies, including by Moslem bad boy groups. Power interruptions affected the entire Zamboanga peninsula, including Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Zamboanga City, and the entire Misamis Occidental province, and parts of Lanao del Norte. The suspect’s affiliation was still being investigated, but when news hounds asked the military if the Daulah Islamiyah (DI) group, which is known to operate in the area, might be involved, officials said, it was "possible." DI is the Filipino name of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... bad boy group. Joint police and military anti-terror teams are investigating the attack, which occurred shortly after the fifth anniversary of the end of the bad boy siege of Marawi city. In 2017, Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern members of the Islamic State laid siege to the lakeshore city in hopes of making it into their caliphate in the region. Five months of battles destroyed the city, but also pushed back the bad boys. Some 1,200 bad boys, soldiers and non-combatants were killed in the violence. "Rest assured that we will heighten our security operations and stay on guard against the malefactors that hamper the stability in our area of operation," said Brig. Gen. Arturo Rojas, the acting chief of the military's Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga city.

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Southeast Asia

Philippine troops kill regional Islamic State spokesman

2022-06-08

[BenarNews] Filipino government forces killed a man identified as the front man for the East Asia branch of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... krazed killer group during a raid in the southern Philippines, military officials said Tuesday. Troops and intelligence units carried out the "special operation" on Monday near Datu Saudi Ampatuan, a town in Maguindanao province, that led to "the death of Abdulfatah Omar Alimuden, a.k.a. Abu Huzaifah," the military said in a statement. "Aside from being the spokesperson of the ISIS-EA, Abu Huzaifah was also in charge of the financial transactions of the Daulah Islamiyah-Philippines to the ISIS Central," the military said, using an acronym for the East Asia branch of Islamic State and also referring to the Filipino branch of IS. Troops with the Army’s 601st Brigade, 40th Infantry Battalion and military intelligence units took part in the operation. They launched it based on witness information that the suspect was in a vehicle transporting materials to construct a madrassa, according to authorities. The military’s Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom), based in Zamboanga city, declined to give more information. "We are limiting the information about it because of an ongoing operation which we cannot divulge to the media. ... I don’t want to pre-empt our follow-up operation. There are key personalities that we are going after," Lt. Gen. Alfredo Rosario Jr., the WestMinCom chief, told news hounds. "That’s all we can say for now, that we conducted a military operation and we neutralized Abdulfatah Omar Alimuden, alias Abu Huzaifah," he said. Rosario could not immediately say how many IS turbans remained in the country. "I’m not sure as to their number but definitely they are small. Compared to one or two years ago, they’re smaller. ... Our effort is continuing to end this terrorist group," Rosario said of IS in the Philippines. Alimuden, a native of Maguindanao, had a second role with IS while serving as the East Asia group’s front man, according to Maj. Andrew Linao, the military’s regional front man. "He was also the finance officer. The suspect appeared to occupy a high position because he was the conduit in the transfer of financial support to the IS and at the same time considered as a high value target," Linao said. "The neutralization is a big blow to IS especially in this part of the region and the operation prevented the group from wreaking havoc." In May 2017, hundreds of local pro-IS fighters, backed by cohorts from elsewhere in Asia and from the Middle East, laid siege to the southern Philippine city of Marawi, transforming it into a battle zone. They intended to turn the lakeside town into the IS caliphate in the Southeast Asian region. The United States and Australia assisted the Filipino army with intelligence information that helped Philippine government forces bomb IS strongholds around the city, finally dislodging the group on Oct. 23, 2017, after a five-month battle. The bombings destroyed much of the city. Nearly five years later, many parts remain off limits because the military has not recovered unwent kaboom! ordnance.

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Southeast Asia

Two Suspected Pro-IS Militants, Govt Soldier Die in Southern Philippine Battle

2022-03-02

[BenarNews] Two Filipino members of an Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... -linked turban group and a soldier were killed during a battle in the southern Philippines on Tuesday in which government warplanes bombed suspected bad boy positions as part of a "major operation," the military said. The military offensive targeted members of Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group bad boy faction, said Lt. Gen. Alfredo Rosario Jr., head of the Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) headquartered in Zamboanga city.

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Southeast Asia

Filipino Officials: US Ready to Provide More Anti-Terror Assistance to Philippines

2022-02-17

[BenarNews] The United States is prepared to increase bilateral assistance for Manila’s fight against violent mostly peaceful Death Eater groups, military officials here said Wednesday, after a top American special forces general met in the southern Philippines with the chief Filipino commander for Mindanao. Lt. Gen. Bryan Fenton, commanding general of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), gave the assurance during talks with Lt. Gen. Alfredo Rosario Jr., head of the Philippine military’s Western Mindanao Command, in Zamboanga city on Tuesday, WestMinCom officials said in a statement. The visit by the general who oversees JSOC, a secretive U.S. military branch, took place 12 days after Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi (also known as Hajji Abdullah), the worldwide leader of the Islamic State

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Southeast Asia

Philippines: Alert Raised as Bombing Suspects Escape Jolo Island

2020-08-30

[BenarNews] A senior Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... bad boy wanted for planning the double suicide kaboom attacks that left 15 dead in the southern Philippine island of Jolo has escaped along with two young Indonesian "bomb experts," officials said Saturday. Details of how Mundi Sawadjaan and two others managed to get off the island despite a manhunt were not released, but they were believed to be headed either to Zamboanga city on the mainland or to the nearby island of Basilan

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Southeast Asia

Blast rocks Philippine port city

2015-01-25

[ARABNEWS] A powerful kaboom killed as many as two people and maimed 54 others in a southern Philippine port city that has been hit by similar blasts blamed on Moslem Death Eaters, police said Saturday. The blast occurred at a bar across the street from a busy bus terminal in Zamboanga city, damaged nearby establishments and hitting the victims with flying glass and debris. One officer was among the maimed, police said. Police suspected the Death Eater Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... group, which operates in Zamboanga and nearby provinces, saying the attack could have been in retaliation for the foiled prison escape of a brother of one of the group's leaders. Earlier this week, army special forces killed at least three Abu Sayyaf gunnies in running gunbattles and have continued to pursue the faceless myrmidons in nearby Basilan ...Basilan is a rugged, jungle-covered island in the southern Philippines. It is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, bandidos, and maybe even orcs. Most people with any sense travel with armed escorts... province. The group has previously set off bombs to divert attention from military operations. Regional police chief Edwin Basbas said Sherlocks were looking for three men who were seen in the vicinity shortly before the blast. Zamboanga police information officer Alex Mabalot said the blast killed a cycle of violence taxi driver and another man who succumbed to his wounds. Only 10 people remained in hospitals, he said. The bar and the bus terminal had been separately hit several years ago by kabooms blamed on the Abu Sayyaf. At least two suspected faceless myrmidons were placed in durance vile Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! in another kaboom near a cop shoppe last month, he said.

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Southeast Asia

Philippines VP Says Rebel Leader Agrees to Discuss Truce

2013-09-14

[An Nahar] The leader of Musselmen rebels locked in a deadly stand-off with Philippine forces in a key southern city has agreed to discuss a ceasefire, a front man for Vice President Jejomar Binay said Saturday. About 180 gunnies from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) infiltrated six coastal districts of Zamboanga city before dawn on Monday in a siege which has left at least 22 people dead and 52 maimed. "He (Binay) talked to (MNLF leader Nur) Misuari and he talked to (Defense Secretary Voltaire) Gazmin, and they agreed to discuss a ceasefire," the vice president's front man Joey Salgado told Agence La Belle France Presse. The vice president had proposed for the truce to begin from midnight (1600 GMT) Saturday and is flying to Zamboanga later in the day to begin discussions, Salgado said. Misuari has set no conditions in exchange for agreeing to discuss a ceasefire, he added. The rebels have been battling with more than 1,000 Philippine troops for the last five days in a bid to derail peace talks aimed at ending a Musselmen insurgency that had claimed 150,000 lives since the early 1970s.

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Southeast Asia

Abu Sayyaf terrorist arrested in fatal bombings

2011-11-30

Philippine authorities have arrested a Muslim terrorist extremist allegedly involved in fatal bombings including one that killed a US soldier in 2002. Zamboanga city police chief Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo said the terrorist suspect, Hussin Ahaddin, has admitted being behind at least two terrorist bombings in the southern port including the blast that killed a US soldier. De Ocampo said, "He admitted in the course of investigation that he was involved in that terrorist incident that killed an American." De Ocampo said the terrorist suspect was a member of the terrorist organization Abu Sayyaf. A bomb attached to a motorcycle killed one American soldier and three Filipinos and wounded another US soldier and several other bystanders in October, 2002. Ahaddin also admitted helping accomplish the terrorist bombing of two Zamboanga department stores several days later, killing seven people, de Ocampo said. Police are investigating whether the terrorist suspect was involved in the deadly bombing at a small hotel in Zamboanga on Sunday that killed three people and injured 27 others, said the police chief. A handcuffed Ahaddin was briefly shown to reporters but he remained silent. His sister, Julaida Arasain, said he was the innocent driver of a motorcycle-taxi and that it may be a case of mistaken identity. Sobbing, she told reporters, "We are asking for help. All the accusations against my terrorist brother are untrue. He is innocent."

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Southeast Asia

Hotel explosion kills 3, wounds 27 in Philippines

2011-11-28

[Emirates 24/7] A powerful blast killed at least 3 people and maimed 27 others in a budget hotel packed with wedding guests in the southern Philippines, officials said Monday. The kaboom, suspected to have been caused by a bomb, ignited a fire that gutted the two-story Atilano Pension House in downtown Zamboanga city late Sunday. The blast was so powerful it caused much of the second floor to collapse, blew off the hotel roof and shattered glass panes and windows from nearby buildings, Zamboanga city Mayor Celso Lobregat said. Two of the maimed were at death's door in a hospital, he said. Zamboanga, a bustling city where U.S. counterterrorism troops are based, has been hit by deadly bombings blamed on al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... cut-throats in the past. The blast occurred in room 226 on the second floor of the hotel, instantly killing two people staying in two adjacent rooms, which were devastated by the blast. A third body was found dead Monday on the ground floor, pinned by the cement slabs that collapsed from above. Initial investigation pointed to a bomb, Lobregat said, adding that he has asked Zamboanga residents to stay calm. "We should not show that we're panicking because that is what these troublemakers relish to see," Lobregat told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone. "We have good leads; we will get all of them."

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Southeast Asia

Kidnapped American boy's cousin escapes in Philippines

2011-11-13

On Sunday, the Filipino relative of a kidnapped American boy escaped from Abu Sayyaf rebels, who've held them for four months in the southern Philippines. Romnick Jakaria fled to freedom when special army forces got near an Abu Sayyaf hide-out near Sumisip town in Basilan province and startled the jihadis. Jakaria, 19 years old, is at an army outpost undergoing questioning. On July 12, Jakaria and his Filipino-American aunt, Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, and her 14-year-old American son were kidnapped while on a vacation on an island near southern Zamboanga city. Abu Sayyaf terrorists militants freed Lunsmann last month, but her son remains in captivity.

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Southeast Asia

Philippine gunmen free US hostage

2011-10-04

[Bangla Daily Star] An American woman kidnapped in a lawless part of the Philippines walked free after nearly 12 weeks in captivity, but she was forced to leave behind her son and nephew, authorities said yesterday. Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, her 14-year-old son and her Filipino teenage nephew were kidnapped on July 12 on a resort island off Zamboanga city, close to other southern islands where a range of Islamist snuffies are based. Lunsmann's ordeal ended on Sunday night after the kidnappers took her by boat from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location to a wharf on nearby Basilan island, and ordered her to walk into a town, local officials and the military said. "The victim looked haggard and tired. She had lost weight and is a little weak," said police physician Superintendent Dexter Bubuli, who met Lunsmann, 41, hours after she was airlifted to a military camp in Zamboanga. "She looked very traumatised by what had happened." Celso Lobregat, mayor of Zamboanga city, said Lunsmann's son and nephew remained in captivity and negotiations for their release were continuing.

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Southeast Asia

Ex-Philippine mayor gunned down

2011-06-28

[Straits Times] A FORMER town mayor in the strife-torn southern Philippines was rubbed out on Monday in a brazen attack that also badly maimed his wife, police said. Najib Maldisa suffered six bullet wounds to his body and died as he was being rushed to hospital after the attack in Zamboanga city on Mindanao island, national police front man Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz said. His wife was in a serious condition, Mr Cruz said. No group has grabbed credit for the attack, but police said the motive could be local political rivalry. Maldisa was formerly the mayor of Maimbung town, on nearby Jolo island, a known stronghold of Mohammedan Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... cut-throats and other local armed gangs. Political rivalry among Mohammedan clans are common in many parts of the southern Philippines, where a proliferation of unlicensed firearms has complicated decades of insurgency.

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