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Vol. 71/No. 10      March 12, 2007

 
U.S.-led offensive deals blows
to ‘terror’ group in Philippines
 
BY RÓGER CALERO  
February 23—Since August, U.S. Special Forces, in conjunction with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), have killed the three central leaders of the Islamist Abu Sayyaf group (ASG) in that country's southern islands. From the beginning of the offensive, 200 of the estimated 400 Abu Sayyaf combatants have been killed or captured, according to Brig. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the Philippines Special Forces in Jolo, about 600 miles south of Manila, the capital.

With Washington's backing, Manila has been in pursuit of Abu Sayyaf, a group both governments have labeled "terrorist." Abu Sayyaf has been waging guerrilla warfare, including through bombings and kidnappings, with the objective of establishing an Islamic Republic. In 1991, the ASG splintered from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)—an organization fighting for an Islamic independent state in Mindanao—after the MILF entered peace negotiations with the Filipino government.

"Working behind the scenes with a rejuvenated Philippine military, U.S. Special Forces have helped kill, capture, or rout hundreds of Abu Sayyaf guerrillas," reported a USA Today article, posted on the Marine Times web site February 16.

Among the dead are ASG's leader Khadafi Janjalani, who was killed in a shootout last September in Jolo; its senior military commander Abu Sulaiman; and spokesman Aldam Tilao (Abu Sabaya).

Janjalani's death marks "an important and positive step forward in the ultimate goal of eliminating" Abu Sayyaf and destroying its links with "international terrorist groups," said a January 20 statement by the U.S. embassy in the Philippines.

Washington considers the Philippines an important theater in its so-called global war on terrorism. In addition to providing training to AFP units, U.S. Special Forces have backed the Filipino military's operations with intelligence, satellite imagery, and other technology, and by providing Philippine soldiers with night-vision goggles and other equipment available only to U.S. forces.

U.S. troops played a "crucial but almost invisible" role in finding and killing Tilao, said an article the March issue of the Atlantic Monthly. Tilao was killed by Philippine government forces after a year-and-a-half-long hunt. In May 2001, a group he led had kidnapped 20 tourists and employees of a Philippine resort. The CIA and U.S. troops worked alongside the Philippines Marine Corps during the operation to locate Tilao, "supplying money, equipment, and just enough quiet technological help to close in for the last act," said the Atlantic Monthly.
 
 
Related articles:
U.S. troops kill 100s of Iraqi militiamen
Iraqis protest U.S. arrest of Shiite official
Washington presses for more sanctions against Iran
U.S. Special Forces operate from bases in Ethiopia
London to beef up force in Afghanistan
And pull 1,600 troops from Iraq  
 
 
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