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| Southeast Asia |
| 3,000 Filippino troops killed fighting commies, Islamists in 2005 |
| 2005-12-31 |
| Escalating hostilities between government troops and communist rebels pushed to nearly 3,000 the death toll in clashes in the Philippines in 2005, the military said yesterday. According to armed forces statistics, 1,455 clashes between government forces and various groups killed 2,838 people in 2005, up from just 387 the previous year. Fatalities included 723 soldiers, 1,810 communist rebels, 171 Abu Sayyaf militants and 118 members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Sixteen loyal followers of jailed rebel leader Nur Misuari were also killed. Civilian and police casualties were not included. The military said it suffered the highest number of casualties in battles with communist rebels in the countryside, losing 458 troops, followed by 181 against the Abu Sayyaf and 68 with Misuari’s men. Only 16 soldiers were killed in clashes with the MILF, which has forged a ceasefire with the Philippine government as part of peace negotiations. Soldiers also had the most number of encounters with communist rebels at 1,255 incidents, followed by 123 clashes with Abu Sayyaf militants, 51 with the MILF and 26 with Misuari’s followers. The military and defence department have in the past identified communist rebels as the country’s top internal security threat. Fighting with communist rebels has been on the rise since last year when peace talks between the Philippine government and Netherlands-based guerrilla leaders were suspended. Efforts to resume the negotiations have so far failed, and the rebels have vowed to step up attacks. On the other hand, the Philippine government and the MILF have both expressed confidence that they would reach a comprehensive peace agreement in 2006. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #7 The AFP has a significant training program with the US. From LRC, SEALS, SF, and Marines they get extreemly high quality training from America's finest. Their senior leaders are lethargic, corrupt, and more interested in politics than fighting this war they have. as the young officers grow into senior leaders they just might figure out how to win this. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2005-12-31 21:20 |
| #6 The Phillipines obviously needs to beef up its COIN training. Too many casualties (and police were not included) for the number of enemy dead. |
| Posted by: john 2005-12-31 19:17 |
| #5 723 soldiers in one year?. Here are 2003 figures from Jammu and Kashmir (from an interview with former J+K Governor Gary Saxena) He also claims that more then 70,000 people have been killed in Kashmir. I do not know who gave him those figures. According to statistics that were made available to me, 13,600 people lost their lives in the last 14 years. Of these 10,000 were killed/massacred by terrorists in various incidents of violence. Rest 3,600 lost their lives in crossfire between the security forces and the terrorists. I am telling you these figures because each body was identified. I must tell you that the security forces lost 3,600 personnel and killed over 16,700 terrorists since 1989. Seventy per cent of these were foreigners. What kinds of arms and ammunition have been seized during the operations? The Indian Army and paramilitary forces have seized over 25,000 Kalashnikovs, 325 sniper rifles, 1,000 machines guns, 1,800 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 4,000 rocket launchers, 10,000 land mines, 50,000 hand grenades, 30 tonnes of explosives, 7.5 tonnes of RDX, 10,000 revolver pistols and 4,000 wireless sets. This speaks about the kind of assistance terrorists groups have been getting from Inter Services Intelligence. |
| Posted by: john 2005-12-31 19:02 |
| #4 my bad |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-12-31 17:54 |
| #3 Fatalities included 723 soldiers, 1,810 communist rebels, 171 Abu Sayyaf militants and 118 members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front |
| Posted by: Paul Moloney 2005-12-31 17:52 |
| #2 3000 is a surprise....pretty hard to lose that many without any appreciable successes |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-12-31 14:52 |
| #1 Poor training, poor leadership, poor discipline, and a corrupt central government that has half a heart in the fight [if that much]. Any surprise? |
| Posted by: Thromosh Angavins6428 2005-12-31 14:31 |