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| Southeast Asia |
| Abu Sayyaf mountain stronghold seized |
| 2005-11-22 |
| TROOPS seized a suspected Abu Sayyaf camp on Mt. Tumatangis as they continued to scour the mountains of Sulu for remnants of the bandits who fled fierce fighting last week, including two Indonesian bombers who have sought refuge in Mindanao. Top security officials, meanwhile, warned that an Indonesian suicide bomber is planning to manufacture a âsuper bombâ containing 1,000 kilos of explosives to bomb the US embassy in Manila and other American operations in the country. Two Army men from the 30th Infantry Battalion in Indanan were injured after four unidentified men opened fire on them in Sitio Kanday Kambing, in Indanan, a military report reaching Camp Aguinaldo yesterday said. Maj. Bartolome Bacarro, Army spokesman, identified the injured soldiers as Sgt. Robert Solomon and Pfc. Jamid Tanteh, who were ambushed on the way to their base camp. The attackers fled as Army reinforcements arrived, he added. On the same day, troops from the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion discovered a camp of 10 makeshift huts that can accommodate about 50 people, Bacarro said. Fresh food and personal belongings were found in the camp, which was probably abandoned by the Abu Sayyaf terrorists, he said. In Congress, Victor Mayo, deputy chief of the National Security Council told lawmakers during a budget hearing yesterday that the Indonesian bomber with a super bomb comes from the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional terrorist network linked to Osama bin Ladenâs Al Qaida group. âThe number one threat is now terrorism,â he said. His statement was echoed yesterday by Singapore Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean, who spoke at a counterterror conference in Singapore. Teo warned that terrorist networks had shown the ability to quickly change and adapt and said there must be closer collaboration among countries if the fight against them is to be won. âNo one today can be in any doubt that it will be a long and ardous fight against terrorism,â he told some 90 participants from armed forces and counterterrorism agencies in Asia and Europe. âThe danger is extreme and immediate, and Southeast Asia is a key battleground.â Southeast Asia has been described by the United States as the second front in its global âwar on terror.â The JI, blamed for several attacks in Indonesia, operates in the region, and its top leaders are at large and said to be training in Mindanao. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |