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Philippines: Military says 50 foreign terrorists in south
[ADN Kronos] (AKI) - More than half the foreign terrorists based in the Philippines's southern province of Mindanao had links to the Islamist terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, according to military intelligence. Documents obtained by Adnkronos International (AKI) show that 50 foreign militants have joined local Muslim rebels in their struggle for self-determination in Mindanao. The documents, updated in February 2010, said 28 of the militants had links to Jemaah Islamiyah, the Asian-based Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda. Many of them were believed to have been integrated in the Islamic community in the central west of the island in the autonomous Muslim region of Mindanao. The military intelligence document said many of these terrorists live under the protection of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (photo), in particular in the so called SKP training camp in Liguasan Marsh. In peace talks conducted with the government in 1997, the group denied any involvement with terrorists. However, the report found more than 24 individuals are suspected of links to other Islamist terrorist groups such as KOMPAK, Darul Islam, Laskar Jundullah, and Indonesian Laskar Jihad - which has been linked to violent attacks on Christians - and Kumpulan Mujahidin, which is committed to the creation of an Islamic state in Malaysia. At least 18 members of this group were reported to be in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, while the others were in Sulu, the island in the south of Mindanao, considered the stronghold of another Muslim separatist group, Abu Sayyaf. The MILF is the largest of four Muslim separatist groups in Mindanao, and Abu Sayyaf is understood to have links with Al-Qaeda. Jemaah Islamiyah is held responsible for Indonesia's deadliest terror attack, the 2002 Bali bombings, and was added the United Nations' list of terrorist organisations linked to Al-Qaeda or the Taliban the same year. Posted by: Fred 2010-04-17 |
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