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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippines launches a major offensive against Abu Sayyaf |
| 2004-09-28 |
| US-backed forces have launched a major assault to capture or kill an Abu Sayyaf leader wanted by Washington, sparking clashes that killed a Philippine marine and left an undetermined number of rebels dead, officials said yesterday. The assaults, which began on Friday in the mountain jungles of Patikul on southern Jolo island, were aimed at neutralising Radulan Sahiron and a number of Abu Sayyaf commanders who reportedly had planned to meet there last week, apparently to plot another terror strike, military sources said. Sahiron, a one-armed, horse-riding Abu Sayyaf commander based in Patikul, is on a US Defence Department list of wanted terrorists. The Philippine authorities have linked him to a number of kidnappings, including the April 2000 abduction of 21 Western tourists and Asian workers from neighbouring Malaysia. Army Brigadier-General Agustin Dimaala, who was helping oversee the operations, confirmed that assaults were under way against Sahiron's group, about 940km south of Manila. One marine was killed and six others were injured, two while defusing a homemade bomb, officials said. There was no indication if Sahiron, who is believed to have about 40 armed followers, had been killed in running gunbattles, officials said. 'We are optimistic,' Brig-Gen Dimaala said. 'The operations are continuing and the troops are still in the mountain.' US forces provided training and equipment to Filipino troops involved in the assaults, but were not involved in actual combat, he said. Night-vision goggles provided by the Americans allowed Filipino troops to locate and engage a group of rebels, who have split into smaller groups, late on Monday, another official said. Although now down to about 400 guerillas from a peak strength of more than 1,000 men in early 2000, the Abu Sayyaf is still capable of bombings and other terror attacks, the military said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |