1,300 families affected by Basilan clashes

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to help the more than a thousand families affected by the recent violence in the southern Philippine province of Basilan. Mrs. Arroyo’s order came as local social workers said some 1,300 families were affected by last Wednesday's clash between government troops and Abu Sayyaf bandits, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said at a press briefing in Zamboanga City. “Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has directed the DSWD to attend to the needs of our internally displaced people," he said. Basilan Governor Jum Jainuddin-Akbar said the affected families came from five villages in Al-Barka, Tipo-Tipo and Ungkaya Pukan towns. She said civilians fled their homes due to tension during the fighting. “Ang nangyari kasi ang adjacent barangay may tension sa kanila kaya umalis ang civilians from neighboring barangays to safety (What happened was that the families in neighboring villages fled to safety due to tension in the fighting)," she said. The military’s Western Mindanao Command claimed Saturday it had overrun the training camp of the Abu Sayyaf, which has links to the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah terror group and Osama bin Laden's dreaded al-Qaeda terrorist network. It said the camp was where the Abu Sayyaf manufactured improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used in bombings, and where they train new recruits. The camp was seized after a fierce encounter that left 23 soldiers and 31 bandits dead. The Armed Forces said it has “established a very credible AFP presence" in the area and is still “conducting pursuit operations against remnants of the Abu Sayyaf." - GMANews.TV