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| Southeast Asia |
| 6 Philippine marines killed, 19 wounded in clash with al-Qaida-linked militants |
| 2006-09-04 |
| Six Philippine marines were killed and 19 wounded in a clash early Monday with close to 200 al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels believed led by some of Southeast Asia's most wanted militants, officials said. The biggest battle yet in a U.S.-backed offensive that started Aug. 1 erupted at dawn near mountainous Patikul town on Jolo island, where troops sighted Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani and two Indonesian militants, Umar Patek and Dulmatin, who goes by one name, military officials said. Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commander of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said several Abu Sayyaf rebels were believed either wounded or killed in the two-hour clash. "We believe many of them were either killed or wounded because we've recovered clothes and bandoleers of ammunition stained with blood," Cedo told reporters. A military officer, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said about 30 marines started the assault by hurling grenades at more than 20 Abu Sayyaf rebels who were eating at dawn in the jungle. The grenade blasts possibly killed many of the rebels but alerted a main group of close to 200 guerrillas nearby, many of whom opened fire, he told The Associated Press by telephone. After the gunbattle, two MG520 helicopters fired rockets at the fleeing militants. Other troops were deployed to back the marines and help pursue the rebels, who were fleeing toward Jolo's thickly forested mountainous heartland, Cedo said. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was monitoring the clashes from Manila, sent a mobile phone message to Cedo stating, "My prayers for our troops, please disseminate to our troops," he said. Washington has offered a reward of up to US$5 million (?3.9 million) for information leading to the capture of Janjalani and his key commanders who have been charged with several deadly attacks, including a 2004 bombing that gutted a ferry, killing 116 people in Southeast Asia's second-worst terrorist strike. The Indonesians, also on Washington's most-wanted terror list, are suspected members of the regional group Jemaah Islamiyah and among the alleged masterminds of the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 202 people. The Indonesians are believed to have fled to the southern Philippines shortly after the attacks, and large U.S. rewards also have been offered for their capture. An unspecified number of marines moved toward the Abu Sayyaf rebels after getting intelligence reports late Sunday of the militants' presence near Patikul. They began the assault at dawn Monday, Cedo said. Military commanders strongly believe Janjalani, his key commanders, including one-armed militant Radulan Sahiron, and the Indonesians were near Patikul because of the number of gunmen who ringed the rebel leaders in three layers of security, Cedo said. An Abu Sayyaf commander, Abu Sulaiman, claimed last week that the militants have dealt heavy casualties to government troops on Jolo and were not intimidated by U.S. backing of military assaults. The military dismissed his claim as propaganda. The Abu Sayyaf, which the military estimates to have about 400 armed men in Jolo and outlying provinces, is notorious for ransom kidnappings, beheadings and other crimes. U.S. and Australian officials have been deeply concerned by reported terrorist training by Indonesian and Filipino militants in the south. The Philippine military says key training camps run by Jemaah Islamiyah have been destroyed and the militants are mostly on the run. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #2 I give up sinse, why? |
| Posted by: RD 2006-09-04 14:04 |
| #1 why do most of these militants have at least one limb missing? |
| Posted by: sinse 2006-09-04 14:00 |