War in Mindanao :Palace, AFP reject OIC call for ceasefire in Sulu (tags)
Manila-- Malacañang is giving full support to the military offensive against renegade Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) forces in Sulu, which entered its fourth day of fierce fighting yesterday. While the government acknowledges the appeal of the 47-nation Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to disengage forces, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said there must be an assurance against further attacks from the renegade forces. Nearly 8,500 families ( 40,000 people)have fled the fighting and thousands crammed into schools and gymnasiums in downtown Jolo, relying on food rations from disaster agencies. The mass evacuations are a bitter development for conflict-scarred residents, who had hoped Jolo was becoming a more stable place after a long-running military campaign to rid the island of scores of Islamic militants.
The Ghosts of Bud Dajo return to Jolo, Sulu (tags)
Mindanao tales tells that whoever made or put the mysterious white “agong” in the small cave at the foot of Bud Daho remains a mystery to this day. The “agong” is a musical instrument which produces a single note when pounded with a mallet or a large drumstick. It is commonly used by many Asian tribes along with other native brass instruments and is largely associated with religious rituals or festivities. The people living near Bud Dajo even believe that the silver gong is enchanted and that nobody has dared take it away from its nesting place. The Bud Dajo massacre of 1906 IN villages near Bud Dajo (Mt. Dajo) in Jolo, Sulu, where over a thousand people died in a massacre by American forces over a hundred years ago, the sound of the puting agong has often been heard as a warning.
RP wants US help in routing communists (tags)
The Philippine government will welcome US counterinsurgency assistance against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA), Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said on Thursday. Ermita hinted at growing US involvement in the Philippines’ internal security affairs while discussing the coming joint Balikatan war games in Jolo. Interviewed after his sendoff of President Arroyo, who left Thursday morning for Davos, Switzerland, Ermita said the Chief Executive is glad that both counterterrorism and counterinsurgency campaigns are “moving forward, very smoothly.”
More Philippine troops sent to hunt for Janjalani, JI operatives (tags)
News sources and the Philippine military said Tuesday it will send another 2,000 troops to Jolo to bolster a US-backed four-month offensive to capture the country's top terror suspects. According ot news sources, about 6,000 Army troops and Marines have been searching for Indonesians Umar Patek and Dulmatin, suspected members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network, who fled to the southern Philippines after allegedly plotting the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani since August 2006.
NO RAMADAN LET-UP FOR MUSLIM MILITANTS -MILITARY (tags)
The Philippine military will continue its offensive against Al Qaeda-linked militants during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a military spokesman said Tuesday. Some 5,000 troops backed by intelligence gathering from the United States military have been locked in intense fighting with Abu Sayyaf militants thought to be sheltering Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bombers on the southern island of Jolo.
MINDANAO:80 SAYYAF KILLED IN PATIKUL SULU FIGHTING (tags)
Military officials said Wednesday that more than 80 members of the Abu Sayyaf have been killed in three days of fierce fighting in Jolo, where soldiers were trying to capture two Jemaah Islamiah leaders linked to the 2002 Bali bombings.
US intelligence guides hunters of Abu Sayyaf (tags)
Guided by intelligence given by the US Army, Filipino troops on Thursday continued their assault on suspected lairs of the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo for the third straight day. The military is hot on the trail of Khadaffy Janjalani, the Abu Sayyaf chieftain, and two Jemaah Islamiya leaders, Umar Patek and Dulmatin.
Fierce fighting in S. Philippines (tags)
T roops are searching for several key militants The Philippine military says five members of the Muslim group the Abu Sayyaf have been killed in fierce fighting in the south of the country. Rockets have been fired and bombs dropped on a base of suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf on Jolo island.