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Aquino aide: Abu Sayyaf, NPA reduced to 'bandits'
A senior Philippine official said the Abu Sayyaf terrorists extremists have been reduced to a "bandit group" in Mindanao due to operations launched against them by government security forces. Secretary Edwin Lacierda, a spokesman for President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, said the number of terrorists extremists has been "decimated" primarily due to military attacks against them.

Disputing a US State Department report that Mindanao remained a "terrorist haven" due to the presence of the Abu Sayyaf, Lacierda said, "The Abu Sayyaf is more or less a bandit group already. They have been reduced to a kidnap-for-ransom group and that's the status right now as we continue to pursue lawless elements in the country."

The same was true of the communist New People's Army (NPA) whose numbers have also been significantly reduced by military offensives as well as the government's success in encouraging the terrorists rebels to surrender, according to Lacierda.
Posted by: ryuge 2013-06-07
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=369768