Military spy plane shot down in Maguindanao

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters have shot down a portable spy plane during a fierce firefight with government forces in the southern Philippines, the separatist group said on Saturday. In a statement, the group said the unmanned aerial vehicle, which resembled a mini-chopper, was shot down in the town of Guindulungan in Maguindanao province. “The downed spy vehicle - a mini-helicopter - was equipped with sensors and cameras. At the time of downing, the air vehicle was hovering low while the fighting was in progress, obviously sending back tactical data to the command headquarters of the (Philippine Army’s) 6th Infantry Division where a sophisticated communication or tracking facilities are in place," the statement said. The MILF said the propellers of the plane had Chinese markings but it also had markings that suggested it was made in Australia, a key ally of the Philippines in fighting local terrorism. Australia, which previously linked the MILF to the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, is the Philippines' second largest defense cooperation partner behind the United States. The MILF said an unnamed Filipino army colonel was trying to buy back the spy plane for P400,000, but the offer was rejected by rebels, who claimed they destroyed the unmanned aerial vehicle. It said a sniper shot down the spy plane June 9 on orders of MILF leader Wahid Tundok. “Commander Wahid Tundok ordered one his sharpshooters to zero in on the pestering air vehicle. And with one shot, it crashed down in a hillside. It was, however, retrieved later by his men with body and parts largely intact," the MILF said. Tundok was among seven MILF fighters killed in a firefight late Thursday between rebels and troops in Guindulungan town. ’Not ours’ The Army’s 6th Infantry Division denied knowledge of any downed spy plane. “We have no spy planes or UAV. We don’t need spy planes to track down the rebels because civilians, who are fed up with the MILF atrocities, are providing us intelligence," said division spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce. The MILF said it was the second time its fighters had shot down a spy plane. Last Oct. 31, MILF members also shot down and captured a US military spy drone flying inside their territory in Maguindanao’s Talayan town. The drone was reportedly one of many spy planes used by US forces – assisting Filipino military - in surveillance operations in Mindanao. Several US military drones were also reported to have crashed in the southern Philippines since 2002. The US military has a fleet of various unmanned spy planes, from a palm-size remote-controlled aircraft, to bigger and sophisticated high-altitude, long-range remotely piloted vehicles designed for long-endurance photographic reconnaissance and electronic surveillance missions, and as attack air craft. The US military had also used a Philippine Air Force base in Mactan Island in Cebu province as station of its fleet of Orion spy planes. - GMANews.TV