Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr.: All-out campaign vs Abu Sayyaf and BIFF. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–The Armed Forces chief of staff on Sunday ordered troops to press the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to downgrade the two groups’ capability to inflict harm on civilians.
Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. ordered field commanders in Sulu and Maguindanao provinces to pursue the two groups without letup but to avoid collateral damage involving civilians.
“I want to significantly lessen the bandits’ ability to carry out violent attacks against civilians before I retire in July 2015,” Catapang said.
He ordered an all-out campaign against the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and the secessionist BIFF in Maguindanao last week.
The military launched simultaneous attacks, including artillery and air strikes, against the Abu Sayyaf in the jungles of Patikul town, Sulu, and the BIFF in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao, where thousands of people fled their homes in several villages to avoid getting caught in the cross fire.
The Abu Sayyaf, notorious for kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners and bomb attacks on civilians in the south, has lost 24 members in five days of fighting in Patikul.
Sahiron wounded
Radulan Sahiron, the one-armed leader of the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu, was reportedly wounded in fighting in Buhanginan village, Patikul, on Friday.
On Sunday, the military confirmed the report from the Joint Task Force Group Sulu but provided no details.
Col. Restituto Padilla Jr., spokesman for the AFP, also said the military was verifying another report that Abu Sayyaf subleader Hatib Sawadjaan was wounded in one of the clashes last week.
The military has lost two soldiers in fighting on Thursday.
Sahiron’s group was fleeing toward Minjay in Kabuntakas village on Saturday, ducking artillery and gunship fire and heading south, where the 2nd Marine Battalion Landing Team had set up a blockade to stop the bandits.
The military has thrown blockades on the eastern and western sides of the engagement area to prevent Sahiron’s group from getting out.
Padilla said the military campaign against the Abu Sayyaf was an ongoing law enforcement operation that began in November last year.
The campaign against the Abu Sayyaf is focused on Jolo, he said.
“The major skirmishes were last year so these operations are follow-ups on what we began last year. There will be no letup until the Abu Sayyaf group is decimated,” Padilla said.
Safety of civilians
But Catapang reminded his troops to carry out the campaign while ensuring the safety of civilians.
“We can protect the civilian populace by isolating them from armed groups, and we also need accurate information from the people themselves,” he said.
According to Padilla, the Abu Sayyaf has changed tactics, avoiding direct engagements with government forces and fragmenting into smaller groups.
But Padilla said the military was “looking for a decisive engagement” with the bandits.
“They changed their tactics, they are hiding now. They will engage then distance themselves and split up into small groups,” Padilla said.
The military, he said, has yet to encounter a sizeable force of the Abu Sayyaf, as the bandits tend to disengage when the military launches an offensive.
There were no reports of fighting with the bandits on Sunday.
In Maguindanao, the 6th Infantry Division has cleared the Tacurong-Cotabato Highway of BIFF bandits after fighting in Datu Unsay town on Friday.
Three soldiers were wounded in the three-hour firefight.
Usman’s followers killed
Reports reaching Camp Aguinaldo said three followers of bombmaker Basit Usman were killed in the assault of the 601st Brigade troops last week.
Government forces are going after Usman, who eluded arrest when Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) commandos raided Mamasapano on Jan. 25 to get him and his Malaysian leader, Jemaah Islamiyah bomb expert Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan.”
The SAF commandos killed Marwan, but lost 44 companions in clashes with BIFF and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as they withdrew from the town.
The MILF, which has signed a peace agreement with the government, is investigating the clash. It has returned to the PNP the firearms taken by its fighters from slain SAF commandos and repositioned its fighters on the hills near Talayan town to clear the way for the military operation against the BIFF, which is believed to be harboring Usman.
Catapang said more troops were sent in on Sunday to scour the Liguasan Marsh for Usman’s hideout.
No fighting was reported Sunday.
Two soldiers wounded
Earlier, the military said two soldiers were wounded in fighting with BIFF rebels.
But Abu Misri Mama, spokesman for the BIFF, said 20 soldiers were killed.
The military denied Mama’s claim.
Catapang also directed line unit commanders on Sunday to help in transporting evacuees back to their villages.
“We want the civilians to live peacefully in their communities. This is the reason why we are driving the BIFF away from their homes,” he added.
But more civilians are reportedly fleeing their homes in Mamasapano, Rajah Buayan, Shariff Saydona, Shariff Aguak and Datu Saudi Ampatuan towns, local officials said.
Rajah Buayan Mayor Zamzamin Ampatuan said residents of Mamasapano had fled to his town, which is adjacent to the site of the military operation against the BIFF.
Local officials said BIFF fighters had been sighted in the marshland of Datu Piang and Shariff Saydona.
Displaced families
The Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao reported that 5,727 families were in evacuation centers as of Saturday afternoon.
At least seven villages were affected in the town of Shariff Saydona Mustapha, with 1,691 families displaced, the team said.
Four villages were affected in the Shariff Aguak, with 1,273 families fleeing their homes, it said.
The team said 165 families were in the evacuation center in Mamasapano and 255 families from the town fled to Rajah Buayan.
It said 2,119 families were displaced in Datu Salibo, while 49 families were evacuated to Datu Hoffer.
Rajah Buayan’s Ampatuan said residents of nearby Shariff Saydona and Mamasapano fled to his town, including MILF guerrillas who left the town to help clear the way for the military operation against the BIFF.
“In my town, there is no military action. That is why residents from the nearby town came over,” Ampatuan said.
But the military’s 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, securing the Isulan-Cotabato City Highway and roads leading to Datu Piang, Mamasapano and Shariff Saydona, was ready to engage the BIFF.
“Our operation against the lawless BIFF is continuing,” said Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, spokesperson for the 6th Infantry Division.–With reports from Edwin Fernandez and Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao
RELATED STORIES
Villagers flee as AFP-BIFF battle rages