Marine battalion to augment Sulu troops
02/14/2007 | 09:31 AM
Amid orders from Camp Aguinaldo to increase military strength in southernmost Philippines, a battalion from the First Marine Brigade will be redirected from Lanao to Sulu instead of Basilan province to help pursue alleged terrorists. A battalion is composed of roughly 500 men.
A Sun-Star Zamboanga report said the move was made even amid reports that the Abu Sayyaf bandit group is regrouping in Basilan following the deaths of its top leaders.
"Our area commander [believes] we need more forces to be deployed in Sulu," said Commodore Geronimo Defensor, chief of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM).
Defensor added that additional Navy forces were also sent to Sulu, following information that the Abu Sayyaf and Jema'ah Islamiyah (JI) terrorists are planning to escape from the province due to continuous military offensives against them.
However, he brushed aside speculations that the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan were regrouping, saying Marine forces that are already in the province are enough to maintain law and order.
The switching of deployment between the Lanao-based Marines and Basilan-based 103rd Army Infantry Brigade stemmed from an order of military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
He said Tuesday that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) learned that "high-value targets" were in Sulu, and that the Abu Sayyaf and JI camps have been located.
Among the "high-value targets" of the continuous military offensive are the remaining top Abu Sayyaf leaders Isnilon Hapilon, Radullan Sahiron, and Al-Bader Parad and JI terrorists Dulmatin and Umar Patek.
Abu Sayyaf top leaders and their followers fled from Basilan at the height of the conduct of joint RP-US military exercises in 2002 dubbed as Balikatan 02-1.
The Navy forces are tasked to cordon the province of Sulu to prevent terrorists from escaping to another place.
Last Saturday, a group of battery personnel from the Zamboanga del Sur-based Army 1st Infantry Division were shipped to Sulu to augment the forces that are already in the province pursuing the terrorists.
Four Abu Sayyaf members were killed in separate clashes on Monday with government troops in Mount Kausukan, Luuk and Mount Daho, Talipao, Sulu.
Two other Abu Sayyaf members were captured in the Luuk town encounter. The troops recovered an M-14 rifle in the encounter site.
The Abu Sayyaf that figured in the Talipao clash reportedly belonged to the group of Parad, one of the remaining Sayyaf leaders.
Western Mindanao Command spokesman Maj. Eugenio Batara Jr said some of the troops from the Army’s 18th Infantry Battalion (IB) will be left behind in Basilan.
Batara said the troops will be the one to supervise the training and deployment of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) in Basilan and other parts of the region.
He said the 18th IB is the one that oversees the deployment of the Cafgu in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula area aside from Basilan province. - GMANews.TV
A Sun-Star Zamboanga report said the move was made even amid reports that the Abu Sayyaf bandit group is regrouping in Basilan following the deaths of its top leaders.
"Our area commander [believes] we need more forces to be deployed in Sulu," said Commodore Geronimo Defensor, chief of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM).
Defensor added that additional Navy forces were also sent to Sulu, following information that the Abu Sayyaf and Jema'ah Islamiyah (JI) terrorists are planning to escape from the province due to continuous military offensives against them.
However, he brushed aside speculations that the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan were regrouping, saying Marine forces that are already in the province are enough to maintain law and order.
The switching of deployment between the Lanao-based Marines and Basilan-based 103rd Army Infantry Brigade stemmed from an order of military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
He said Tuesday that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) learned that "high-value targets" were in Sulu, and that the Abu Sayyaf and JI camps have been located.
Among the "high-value targets" of the continuous military offensive are the remaining top Abu Sayyaf leaders Isnilon Hapilon, Radullan Sahiron, and Al-Bader Parad and JI terrorists Dulmatin and Umar Patek.
Abu Sayyaf top leaders and their followers fled from Basilan at the height of the conduct of joint RP-US military exercises in 2002 dubbed as Balikatan 02-1.
The Navy forces are tasked to cordon the province of Sulu to prevent terrorists from escaping to another place.
Last Saturday, a group of battery personnel from the Zamboanga del Sur-based Army 1st Infantry Division were shipped to Sulu to augment the forces that are already in the province pursuing the terrorists.
Four Abu Sayyaf members were killed in separate clashes on Monday with government troops in Mount Kausukan, Luuk and Mount Daho, Talipao, Sulu.
Two other Abu Sayyaf members were captured in the Luuk town encounter. The troops recovered an M-14 rifle in the encounter site.
The Abu Sayyaf that figured in the Talipao clash reportedly belonged to the group of Parad, one of the remaining Sayyaf leaders.
Western Mindanao Command spokesman Maj. Eugenio Batara Jr said some of the troops from the Army’s 18th Infantry Battalion (IB) will be left behind in Basilan.
Batara said the troops will be the one to supervise the training and deployment of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) in Basilan and other parts of the region.
He said the 18th IB is the one that oversees the deployment of the Cafgu in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula area aside from Basilan province. - GMANews.TV
