COTABATO, Philippines - Muslim insurgents using grenade launchers blasted their way into a prison in the southern Philippines early on Friday and freed 47 inmates, according to its warden.
Three guards were wounded in the pre-dawn attack on Kidapawan City prison, on Mindanao island, in the latest violation of a truce between the Philippine government and the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF.) Warden Red Marasigan said about 20 MILF guerrillas attacked the prison just before dawn, blasting a wall down with grenade launchers.
As some insurgents kept guards pinned down with rifle fire, others entered the jail to free prisoners. Those who escaped all faced serious charges such as bombing and kidnapping. Among them was Ali Sultan, a suspected MILF member being held for allegedly bombing Kidapawan's commercial district in October 2003, injuring three, Marasigan said. It was the second jail break in recent months in the area. In December heavily armed men raided the provincial prison in Cotabato City freeing a Muslim guerrilla jailed for the 2003 bombing of the local airport. No one was killed in the bombing but the airport terminal was extensively damaged.
Military spokesman Colonel Julieto Ando said Friday the MILF "most likely had a hand" in the latest jail break, adding the military would soon lodge a complaint with the joint peace panel monitoring the truce. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied the attackers and escaped detainees were members of the MILF, saying the jailbreak was likely carried out by relatives of the inmates. The government has ordered a hunt for the freed prisoners and those behind the attack.
The 12,000-strong MILF had been waging a separatist rebellion in Mindanao since 1978, but it signed a 2003 truce with Manila to pave the way for peace talks. Negotiations, however, are bogged down by MILF demands for economic control of areas they claim as "ancestral domain." Malaysia, which has been hosting the peace talks, has sent monitors to the island of Mindanao to make sure the ceasefire terms are not violated.
Taytay raid kills ‘bomber,’ nabs 3 (Phillipines)
Friday, February, 2 2007
An Islamic militant was killed and two others captured in a pre-dawn raid Thursday on their bases just east of the Philippine capital Manila, police said. Marines and police officers launched the assault on two villages near the town of Taytay, triggering a firefight that lasted several hours.
The raid was launched after intelligence indicated former members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s “special operations group” were hiding in the area, said Senior Supt. Asher Dolina. The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) announced the government had foiled a bombing plot, citing discovery of a chunk of the explosive C-4 and components in the manufacture of bombs.
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http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/feb/02/yehey/top_stories/20070202top1.html
Karachi, 1 Feb. 2007 - Authorities in Pakistan are concerned that the series of terrorist plots unearthed this week by security forces indicate that al-Qaeda is planning major attacks across the country, a top Pakistani security official has told Adnkronos International (AKI). Al-Qaeda's ire and its desire to sow destruction stems from a military strike in Pakistan's South Waziristan region last month, the official said speaking on condition of anonymity.
The security official who spoke to AKI is linked to the Pakistani National Crisis Management Cell - a body which coordinates the counter-terrorism activities of several law enforcing agencies and the interior ministry.
The strike, an aerial raid on a militant camp in which many people were killed prompted the chief of the Pakistan based Taliban in South Waziristan, Baitullah Mehsud, to announce a declaration of war against Islamabad.
The escalation of terrorist activities has been evident over the two days as security forces foiled planned attacks in several cities, including Dera Ismail Khan, Multan, and Peshawar. Dozens of terror suspects, including Afghan nationals were rounded up. “Many Uzbek members of al-Qaeda live in South Waziristan including the chief of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Tahir Jan (Tahir Yaldeshiv). They are real hardliners and the main source of many terror activities in Pakistan in the past," the official told AKI.
"When Pakistan signed an accord with the Taliban in South Waziristan, it was agreed that all foreign militants would be confined to the country's remote tribal areas and that they would not go to the tribal headquarter towns or Pakistan's cities. This measure proved to be a great help containing terrorism, to the extent that it almost came to a halt in Pakistan. It also helped to thwart al-Qaeda from pursuing its global agendas especially in European countries,” the official added.
“However, there is evidence that Baitullah Mehsud has allowed foreign militants to launch attacks against Pakistan. Initial inquiries show that the person who carried out the suicide bomb attack against the Hotel Marriort in Islamabad (last Friday which killed the bomber and a security guard) also come from Uzbek ethnic stock. We are now of the opinion that this destructive trend could spread all over the world and especially Europe,” the official maintained.
Sources said that the latest escalation in terrorist activities occur at a time when the Taliban are on the verge of launching a spring offensive in Afghanistan, the preparations for which have been noted in Pakistan, especially all along the borderlands of south western province of Baluchistan and in the north-western tribal region.
As part of the campaign, thousands of youths are being recruited every week and are being sent to fortified hideouts between Pakistan and Afghanistan, prompting the concern that a major terror offensive could also target Pakistan.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.382309364&par=