Philippines set to deliver 'killer punch' to kidnappers

The Strait Times of Asia ^ | August 25, 2002 | Luz Baguioro

[spald]

Philippines set to deliver 'killer punch' to kidnappers

Elite troops are on Abu Sayyaf's southern island-stronghold poised to attack if the 4 surviving hostages not freed in 5 days

By Luz Baguioro
PHILIPPINES CORRESPONDENT

MANILA - The Philippines sent in elite counter-terrorism troops to the Abu Sayyaf's southern island-stronghold as the military prepared to deliver a 'killer punch' if four hostages seized by an allied group were not freed within five days.

The Army Light Reaction Company, equipped with high-powered weapons provided by the United States under a military assistance package, was part of a contingent of more than 1,000 troops sent to Jolo to track gunmen who abducted eight people on Tuesday.

The severed heads of two male Christians were later found in Jolo town, the island's capital. Two Muslim hostages were freed earlier, leaving four female Christians still with the bandits.

'I would like to emphasise we are putting more muscle into this operation,' armed forces chief Roy Cimatu said.

'I ordered an increase in troop's presence here in Jolo to put pressure on the Abu Sayyaf and also against the kidnap gang.'

The latest kidnapping and killings have been an embarrassment for the military and the government of President Gloria Arroyo, which boasted recently that the Abu Sayyaf had been crushed.

The military, which originally blamed the group for the kidnapping, later backtracked and said that the abductors were a gang of drug addicts led by a nephew of a senior Abu Sayyaf leader.

Jolo, about 960-km south of Manila, is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked by both the Philippines and the US government to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Officials said private groups and other bandits also operate in the area.

About 6,000 soldiers already on the island have fanned out in preparation for a major strike that could be made later this week, military officials said.

'We are operating right now. The strategy is to tie them up and keep them running,' southern military commander Ernesto Carolina said, adding that the elite US-trained troops who have also been sent in would provide the 'killer punch' in any upcoming operation.

'There is no let-up. We have to get the hostages.'

But the military plans to first give local government officials in Jolo time to negotiate the release of the four women still held captive.

'We are giving the civilian leaders five days to initiate negotiations and convince the group to give up,' Gen Cimatu said.

Apart from the rugged terrain, analysts reckon military operations in Jolo could be severely tested by the fact that there are several neighbouring islands and islets where gunmen could flee to escape pursuing troops.

About 150 remaining members of the Abu Sayyaf gang are believed to have fled to Jolo after a joint Philippine-US operation against the rebels began in January.

[spald]

Four Christian women remain with the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo. Does anyone know the nationalities? Sincere Prayers for the hostages, as it appears the rescue operation commenses.

[StolarStorm]

Muslims: Creating hell everywhere they go.

[norraad]

Dig it, talk about 'yer'great satan, these icklamy dirty devils should check out a mirrror!

[Righty1]

But a peace loving hell!

[Cultural Jihad]

Related article:

Filipino troops slay gang leader, rescue kidnap victims

By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
Published 4:02 a.m. PDT Sunday, August 25, 2002

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Government troops on Sunday raided a hideout of a kidnap gang included on a U.S. list of terrorist groups, rescuing two captives unharmed and killing one of the gang's leaders, officials said.


Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, third right, Police Chief Hermogenes Ebdane, left, military Chief of Staff Gen. Roy Cimatu, second right, and National Capital Region Police Chief Reynaldo Velasco, right, inspect the body of the slain leader of the Pentagon gang, Faisal Marohombsar in Magallanes town in Cavite province, about 40 miles south of Manila, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2002.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo rushed to the scene of the raid in Magallanes town in Cavite province, about 40 miles south of Manila, to demonstrate her commitment to her government's campaign against criminality and insurgency.

Police identified the slain kidnapper as Faisal Marohombsar, a leader of the Pentagon gang who escaped from the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force's detention center in Manila last June 19 in a major embarrassment to a police force long plagued by corruption and incompetence.

Four-year-old Patricia Chong and her nanny, who were kidnapped recently by the gang, managed to escape and were rescued unharmed, said senior superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil, a police spokesman.

Also, Bataoil said two gang members, including a policeman, were captured in the raid. An anti-kidnapping force composed of policemen and soldiers were pursuing other gang members.

Arroyo viewed Marohombsar's body and then ordered top military and police officials with her to go after the rest of the gang members, mostly based in the southern Philippines, Bataoil said.

The Pentagon gang is composed of former Muslim separatist guerrillas notorious for kidnapping foreigners.

Marohombsar was first arrested in February in the Muslim section of Quiapo, a crowded downtown Manila district. After his escape, Marohombsar said in a radio interview that he had escaped because he was mistreated by jail guards.

He said he would surrender if kidnapping charges against him were dropped and if he and his followers were given a chance to start a new life.

Norberto Gonzales, a government negotiator in peace talks with Muslim guerrillas, said he tried to convince Marohombsar to surrender by assuring him of fair treatment.

"We gave him time to give up. I told him the sooner you come in, the better for you," Gonzales said.

The Pentagon group was behind last year's abduction of Italian priest Giuseppe Pierantoni, who was freed last April.

Source

[joesnuffy]

Now if we could only hunt down muslim terrorists in the west the same way

[spald]

More on this story about captured Jevovah Witnesses, HERE, at The Star, Online:

Special unit to rescue hostages

JOLO: The Philippine military flew its elite US-trained counter-terrorism unit to a southern island yesterday to help rescue four captive Jehovah’s Witnesses. 

The deployment of about 70 members of the Light Reaction Company is part of a larger military build-up on Jolo island aimed mainly at wiping out remnants of the al-Qaeda-linked extremist Abu Sayyaf group, notorious for beheadings and kidnappings. 

Southern military commander Lt. Gen. Ernesto Carolina said the unit, equipped with night-vision goggles, individual two-way radios and bulletproof vests not available to regular troops, will provide the “killer punch” against the kidnappers if local officials fail to negotiate the hostages’ release. 

The kidnappers, whose alleged leader is a nephew of a top Abu Sayyaf commander, seized two male and four female members of the Christian group as they sold Avon cosmetics and herbal teas near Patikul town Tuesday. 

They decapitated the two men and left their severed heads in a public market in Jolo townThe tongue of one victim had been cut off, a doctor said. 

“Our troops as well as local government officials have taken action to pursue the bandits responsible for this,” President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in her weekly radio address. 

Officials initially blamed the abduction on the Abu Sayyaf, but then backtracked and said the kidnappers are opportunistic drug addicts in the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Patikul seeking quick cash. 

Arroyo had earlier claimed the Abu Sayyaf had been decimated following a six-month US counterterrorism exercise. 

Carolina said local officials, worried that a military operation will hamper fruit harvests and cause losses of millions of pesos to farmers, gave a “best effort estimate of five days,” starting Friday, to negotiate the remaining hostages’ unconditional release. 

“If the hostages will not be released, the intense military operations will go on and they will be unable to harvest,” he said. 

Military Chief of Staff Gen. Roy Cimatu said he has ordered two army battalions, one marine battalion and one Light Reaction Company deployed to Jolo, in addition to 10 army and marine battalions already based on the island, to finish off about 150 Abu Sayyaf guerillas, including dozens who fled US-backed military assaults on nearby Basilan island. — AP