[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Philippine troops, backed by rocket-firing helicopters and artillery fire, killed up to nine Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... Lions of Islam in fighting Thursday after the new military chief warned of a "shock and awe" offensive to wipe out the bully boy group known for its brutality.
One soldier was killed and six maimed as government troops battled about 130 Abu Sayyaf fighters in the jungles of mountainous Patikul town in Sulu province, said regional military front man Maj. Filemon Tan. In addition to the Abu Sayyaf deaths, 13 of the holy warriors were maimed, he said.
The holy warriors were led by one-armed Abu Sayyaf commander Radulan Sahiron but it was not immediately clear what happened to him. The United States and the Philippines have offered separate bounties for the capture and prosecution of Sahiron, who has been blamed for kabooms and kidnappings for ransom.
In nearby Basilan ...Basilan is a rugged, jungle-covered island in the southern Philippines. It is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, bandidos, and maybe even orcs. Most people with any sense travel with armed escorts... province, troops fought about 200 Abu Sayyaf gunnies for five hours late Wednesday.
The festivities resumed Thursday but there were no immediate reports of casualties, Tan said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has warned the Abu Sayyaf to stop a wave of ransom kidnappings, adding he would eventually confront the bully boys.
Military chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya said early this week a looming offensive would "shock and awe" the krazed killers, suggesting the use of overwhelming firepower against the resilient bully boys, who have survived more than a decade of on-and-off offensives.
Additional troops have been deployed to Basilan and Sulu, predominantly Moslem provinces where the holy warriors have kept hostages in jungle encampments. Two Canadians were successively beheaded by the holy warriors in Sulu after ransom deadlines lapsed, sparking condemnation from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
A Norwegian, a Dutch bird watcher and a group of seven newly kidnapped Indonesian tugboat crewmen remain in Abu Sayyaf custody.
The United States and the Philippines have blacklisted the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization for bombings, kidnappings for ransom and beheadings.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
