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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippines hunts 'coddled' most-wanted bombmaker |
| 2015-03-03 |
| [ARABNEWS] The Philippine military is trying to capture a bombmaker it believes is being "coddled" by Filipino murderous Moslems who have pledged loyalty to Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... , authorities said Sunday. The capture of Abdel Basit Usman is one of the objectives of a major army offensive on the southern island of Mindanao, said local military commander Major General Edmundo Pangilinan. The US government has Usman on its most-wanted list with a one million dollar bounty on his head. Washington and Manila say he has links to Jemaah Islamiyah and 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... , two groups of Southeast Asian Death Eaters. Pangilinan said the military believes Usman is being sheltered by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters ...a MILF splinter group aligned with the Islamic State... (BIFF), which has vowed support to the Islamic State jihadist group that controls swathes of Iraq and Syria. "Basit Usman is still believed to be in the area. We believe the BIFF, this armed, lawless group, are the ones coddling and protecting him. We are still pursuing him," he told AFP. "Field reports indicated that three (Filipino Moslem) lieutenants of Basit Usman were killed in the assault," a military statement said. "More troops were sent in to scour the hiding places of Usman," it added. Military officials declined to specify how many soldiers were involved. More than 10,000 residents have fled since the fighting began last week between the army and the BIFF in the province of Maguindanao on Mindanao, a government front man said, adding that Manila was providing aid to them.Pangilinan said the military was also confirming reports of four Indonesians and an Arab who may be with Usman and the BIFF. "Airstrikes and artillery fire were delivered (on Saturday) after information of the location of the targets were identified," a military statement said, without specifying if anyone was hit. Usman was one of the targets of a botched police commando operation in the same area on January 25. Forty-four commandoes were killed in the raid, triggering a wave of outrage which has shaken the administration of President Benigno Aquino. Usman was not captured. But initial DNA tests from another body indicated the raid may have succeeded in killing another target, Zulkifli bin Hir. |
| Posted by:Fred |