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| Southeast Asia |
| Airstrike launched against Abu Sayyaf stronghold |
| 2005-11-25 |
| THE MILITARY has launched air strikes on a mountain base of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf in Sulu province, officials said Friday. At around 8 a.m. Thursday, OV-10 bomber planes and MG-520 assault helicopters attacked the Tumatani complex, which straddles the boundaries of Parang, Maimbung, and Indanan towns, officials said. Some 200 Abu Sayyaf bandits, including two commanders, Doc Abu and Albader Parad, were believed to be inside the Tumatani complex at the time of the attack, said Brigadier General Alexander Aleo, commander of the anti-terror Task Force Comet. Aleo said the bandits suffered casualties but could not say how many. There were no immediate reports of casualties on the security forces' side. "The Abu Sayyaf has been entrenched in the Tumatani complex since we overran the Karawan complex earlier this year. We believe Doc Abu and Parad are hiding there," Aleo said in a phone interview. A ground assault by troops from the 104th Brigade accompanied the air raid, he added. "The enemy is strong and well-entrenched so we have to use available firepower at our disposal to dislodge the enemy from their heavily fortified bunkers," Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Samuel Bagasin told a news conference in Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters. The air strikes also displaced some civilians but Bagasin could not ascertain how many. He said battalion commanders in the area were overseeing evacuation operations. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 There you go with the negative vibes BK, but yes suburbs are good. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-11-25 10:40 |
| #4 we'll never get Clark back Angeles City works for me though :) |
| Posted by: bk 2005-11-25 09:39 |
| #3 We get Clark, they get BUFFs. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-11-25 07:31 |
| #2 We should have contracted a few B-52s to them for the bomb run. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2005-11-25 07:15 |
| #1 'OV-10 bomber planes' - quality little plane they are, one of my all time faves :) can we not give em some WP to use too :) |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2005-11-25 04:57 |