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US sez Mindanao's a terror hub
A US antiterrorist agency has tagged the Philippines as the Southeast Asian nation with the most number of terrorist groups in operation, ANC reported.The abs-cbn.com said the report cited information provided by the US National CounterÂterrorism Center (www.tkb.org) that listed 10 terror groups operating in the Philippines. The agency said terrorist-related attacks against the government and Philippine citizens numbered at least 25 for the first five months of the year. Among the groups on the NCTC list are Abdurajak Janjalani Brigade, Abu Sayyaf Group, Alex Boncayao Brigade, Free Vietnam Revolutionary Group, Indigenous Peopleâs Federal Army, Jemaah Islamiah, Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Moro National Liberation Front, New Peopleâs Army and al-Qaeda. The NCTC has a total of 786 groups in its database. Of these groups, 36 operate in Southeast Asia and the Oceania region. Of the groups tagged in the Philippines, the most prominent organizations are the Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiah, NPA and al-Qaeda. The Abu Sayyaf gained notoriety for its kidnap-for-ransom and terrorist-related activities in Mindanao. The Jemaah Islamiah has been tagged by the government for bomb attacks that killed dozens of people in urban center in Mindanao and even in Metro Manila. The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines and has been waging insurgency from the countryside for the past three decades. Al-Qaeda, reports said, is funneling funds to train terror cells in the Philippines. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-09-20 |
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