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Wednesday April 30, 3:29 PMPhilippine troops capture bomb-making militant camp: army
An offensive was launched at midnight Tuesday in the remote southern island of Jolo, a known stronghold of Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants, said local anti-terror commander Brigadier General Juancho Sabban. Sabban said troops subjected the Abu Sayyaf and JI, which are blamed for a spate of deadly bombings in the region in recent years, to heavy artillery and mortar fire, causing "heavy losses." He said there were over 200 JI and Abu Sayyaf men in the camp. "This was a preemptive strike using our artillery and ground forces," Sabban told reporters. "We were able to capture the camp, as of now, we are searching the camp." He said about 300 commandos attacked the camp under cover of darkness shortly after the artillery fire, triggering heavy fighting for seven hours. The Abu Sayyaf is a small gang of Islamic militants that once received funding from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network. It has been blamed for the worst terror attacks in the Philippines, including a 2004 ferry bombing that left over 100 dead. JI meanwhile has been blamed for deadly bomb attacks in Indonesia, and security experts say its militants have been monitored in the past two years training in camps with Abu Sayyaf rebels on Jolo. Two of JI's top bomb experts, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, are believed to be somewhere in the south of the Philippines. The military initially reported Dulmatin was killed in a clash early this year, but Indonesian authorities have said DNA tests on the remains proved inconclusive. The US government has offered up to 10 million dollars for Dulmatin and one million for Patek for their roles in the 2002 night club bombings in Indonesia's Bali that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists. |
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