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AFP pulls Army from Sulu, cites ‘weakened’ Abu Sayyaf as reason


ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - The Philippine Army had recalled hundreds of its soldiers from the southern province of Sulu as part of the military's new deployment strategy, officials said Tuesday. With the Army gone, the Philippine Marines will solely take over the security operations in Sulu, located about 950 kilometers from Manila. Marine Brigadier General Juancho Sabban, Sulu military chief, said there is no need to maintain a huge number of soldiers in the province as the troops have already accomplished their earlier missions with the killings and capture of many Abu Sayyaf members. Tens of thousands of troops were sent to Sulu in the past years to fight the Abu Sayyaf, the loosely organized group linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network that has been responsible to abductions of foreign nationals and bombing operations in the past. "Sulu needs fewer troops since the threat problems have remarkably dropped and the threat level is now more manageable," Sabban said. "Intelligence reports disclosed that the Abu Sayyaf group is experiencing leadership and funding problems which barred them from launching more major attacks. The ASG is losing its appeal and influence. Even within their ranks, followers are no longer convinced of the groups' aspirations," he added. Sabban said the Abu Sayyaf is now on the run because of the sustained military campaign and the lack of support from Muslims in Sulu. Many of the Abu Sayyaf's known leaders had either been killed or captured, and the group has dwindled over the past decade from more than a thousand fighters to about 200, the military claims. The group is also believed to be fragmented after Army Special Forces killed its leader, Khadaffy Janjalani, in a firefight in September 2006. In January, thousands of Army soldiers were also pulled out from Sulu and deployed to other provinces in Mindanao Island. Officials said the latest pull out of soldiers, which began Sunday, will realign Marine and Army forces in the Sulu Archipelago and Mindanao. Marine soldiers are also deployed in Tawi-Tawi and Basilan provinces. The Army troops would be deployed in Central Mindanao, the home of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim separatist rebel group. Sabban attributed the success of the military operations against the Abu Sayyaf to effective intelligence and through various development and humanitarian projects conducted in partnership with the Sulu provincial government. - GMANews.TV
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