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NAVAL BLOCKADE: 9 warships seal off Sulu
Nine Navy warships were deployed yesterday in an attempt to seal off Sulu to keep the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits being pursued by ground troops from escaping by sea. As the Navy's recently acquired PS 38 and the other 78-foot gunboats and patrol craft ringed the island, Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, Armed Forces's Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) chief also asked the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to assist in patrolling the shorelines of the island.

The WestMinCom also sent soldiers to all government and private hospitals in the Zamboanga Peninsula to check if there were wounded bandits admitted there. "Our ground commanders with their respective fighting units are continuously pursuing the bandits with out let-up and we are determined to cripple and bring peace back to Sulu province," said Cedo.

A large number of the Navy's Marines and the Army's regular troops and Scout Rangers, who are equipped with night-vision goggles, crawled toward enemy lines in the thickly forested area straddled by five mountains in Jolo, Sulu. The ground troops were backed by the Air Force's strike wing and helicopter wing. As of press time, there were no reported clashes as pursuit operation is still going on.
Posted by: Fred 2006-09-07
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=165202