19 Abu Sayyaf members neutralized from Jan.-May — AFP

Nineteen members of the notorious Abu Sayyaf bandit group had been neutralized by government forces through “intelligence-driven combat operations" in the first five months of the year, a military spokesman said Sunday. “The [Armed Forces of the Philippines] has been applying intelligence-driven combat operations to decimate the [Abu Sayyaf]," said Armed Forces public affairs office chief Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos. “From January to May, the AFP has already initiated 12 armed engagements against the terrorist group resulting in the neutralization of 19 ASG elements… This includes captured and killed," he said. The Abu Sayyaf, which has links to foreign terrorist organizations, is blamed for a number of high-profile bombings and kidnappings in southern Philippines and in Metro Manila in the past. Burgos said the strength of the Abu Sayyaf is now down to about 386. The group’s peak strength reached 1,200 in 2000, when it earned huge ransom amount from the kidnapping of mostly foreign tourists from Sipadan diving resort in Malaysia. Burgos also revealed a downtrend in the number of Abu Sayyaf atrocities compared to the same period last year. “There is a 63 percent decrease in terms of their terroristic violence," he said without giving any figure. He attributed the decrease to the “proactive measures of the AFP, because of the relentless combat operations against them (Abu Sayyaf). They are not able to (launch more atrocities) if security forces are relentless in their operations." — KBK, GMA News