AFP to maintain military assets off Tawi-Tawi

MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Sunday announced that it will still continue to maintain its forces in Tawi-Tawi to ssist in the ongoing humanitarian efforts for Filipino families displaced in the fighting in Sabah.

“We’re going to continue maintaining the function of these assets for humanitarian purposes,” AFP spokesperson Col. Arnulfo M. Burgos, Jr., said.

Around 34 Philippine Navy (PN) ships, a Lockheed C-130 "Hercules" cargo plane and two battalions of troops are currently deployed in Tawi-Tawi.

These military assets are primarily used in the transporting of displaced individuals, relief goods and medical supplies.

“With the enormity of the tasks, we can expect that additional manpower would be needed or deployed on the field,” Burgos said.

On Wednesday, the AFP said it has increased its assets near Sabah, citing that it has deployed 34 Navy ships in the areas near Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, and Sulu.

The PN initially maintained a naval blockade composed of ten ships in February as a hundred “armed” men were reported to have landed in Lahad Datu, Sabah.

As a firefight broke out in March between Sultan Kiram’s followers and Malaysian military, the former increased to more than 300. 

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Philippine News Agency/Zambo Times | March 17, 2013 | Article Link

Navy intercepts P10M smuggled goods off Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/16 August) – The Philippine Navy has intercepted a shipment of P10-million worth of contraband goods that came from Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia, a top military official disclosed Thursday.

Rear Admiral Armando Guzman, Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) command chief, citing a belated report, said the shipment was intercepted Thursday last week at vicinity 1.2 nautical miles west of Tulian Island, Sulu.

Guzman said the troops aboard Patrol Gunboat-118 known as BRP-Emilio Liwanag were on maritime law enforcement operation when they spotted M/L Al-Kausar steaming towards the port of Jolo, the capital of Sulu province.

When inspected, Guzman said the troops found out that M/L Al-Kausar is loaded with 485 bales of used clothing (ukay-ukay), 3,000 sacks of rice, 300 cases of K2 soft drinks, 183 boxes of Sedaap noodles, 100 boxes of Maggi Kari, 115 bags of pancit/udang noodles, 30 boxes of white candles (BT lights), and 200 boxes of cooking oil.

Hudri Darusalam, the skipper of M/L Al-Kausar, failed to present documents of the cargo shipment, Guzman said.

The vessel is owned and operated by Albasher Salim Sangka of Basbas, Languyan municipality, Tawi-Tawi, he said.

Guzman said the vessel was escorted to the port of Jolo and the confiscated contrabands goods were turned over to the Bureau of Customs.

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MindaNews | August 17, 2012 | Article Link

Philippines captures top Al-Qaeda linked militant

Philippine authorities have arrested a founding member of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group blamed for some of the worst terror attacks in the region, security officials said on Sunday.

Ustadz Ahmadsali Asmad Badron, also known as Ammad or Hamad Ustadz Idris, was arrested on Saturday in the remote Tawi-Tawi islands in the southern Philippines.

Police criminal investigation regional chief Edgar Danao said Badron was one of the original members of Abu Sayyaf, which was founded in the 1990s using seed money from Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"Badron was among the trusted members of (Abu Sayyaf) who made millions of pesos in ransom money collected from their operations," Danao said.

Along with one of his cousins Badron worked alongside Galib Andang, a notorious Abu Sayyaf leader well known as "Commander Robot".

The group carried out a daring cross-border raid on a Malaysian resort in April 2000 and kidnapped dozens of foreign tourists.

It gained Abu Sayyaf international notoriety even as the hostages were freed in batches after millions were paid following ransom negotiations brokered by Libya, officials said.

The group has also been blamed for the worst extremist attacks in Philippine history including a ferry bombing in Manila in 2004 that killed more than 100 people.

Subsequent US-backed operations against Abu Sayyaf led to the killing of key leaders, while many others including Andang were arrested, but he was later killed in a botched attempt to escape in 2005.

While on the run, Badron allegedly helped foreign militants from another regional terror group, the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), to hide in the southern Philippines.

The JI is blamed for a spate of deadly attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Badron's arrest came as troops were hunting down another Abu Sayyaf unit on the nearby Basilan island following clashes that left at least 10 soldiers dead last week.

While the government has repeatedly branded the Abu Sayyaf a spent force, experts say the group remains an enduring security threat with hundreds of fighters still active.

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Agence France-Presse/Yahoo News Online | July 30, 2012 | Article Link

4 killed in Abu Sayyaf ambush in Basilan

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Four persons, including three security personnel of the Tumahubong Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Integrated Development Coop. Inc. (TARBIDCI), were killed in an ambush by alleged Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Sumisip, Basilan early morning on Maundy Thursday, the military said.

Seven other persons were wounded in the attack on workers of the cooperative in Tumahubong village around 5:45 a.m., Colonel Ricardo Visaya of the 104th Infantry Brigade said.

Visaya identified the slain security personnel as Nulmer Lumbos, who was driving the cooperative’s patrol vehicle, Nusaman Hatula and Hassan Manjapal.

Wounded were Macion Bonifacio, Reynaldo Pia, Alihol Bistanul, Pangamdas Mujib, Munap Saalul, Ahmad Ibrahim and Lucman Unzah.

Visaya said the cooperative’s security personnel were on a patrol vehicle and were securing an area – where about a dozen rubber tappers were to work – when fired at by the Abu Sayyaf men under Puruji Indama.

Visaya said responding elements of the Army’s 4th Scout Ranger Battalion under Lieutenant  Colonel Armand Arevalo had clashed with the bandits and killed one Abu Sayyaf member in the process.

“One ASG suspect identified as certain Bakrim was killed,” he said.

The Abu Sayyaf is a ragtag band of self-styled Islamists being linked with Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network of terror.

Most of its senior leaders landed in Washington’s list of most wanted terrorists because of the Abu Sayyaf’s involvement in high-profile kidnappings – including of foreigners – and bombing activities.

Although previously dismissed by the military as a spent force, the Abu Sayyaf – founded in the 1980s by a Abdurajak Janjalani – continues to sow terror, especially in remote villages of Western Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

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Julie Alipala, Katherine Evangelista | INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer | April 5, 2012 | Link

Survey: Marines well-loved in Sulu

Eighty percent of Sulu residents trust the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and 98 percent credit it for securing their communities. These emerged from a recent survey in the island province made infamous by the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group. Sulu in the ’70s to early ’80s also saw separatists fiercely fighting government troops.

Of the 98 percent who consider the AFP as the greatest impact to local security, 50 percent believe it is making their place a lot safer. Respondents basically were referring to the Philippine Marines, the most visible AFP unit to Sulu locals. The Marine Corps has two brigades consisting of six battalions in the island. Jointly with visiting US forces, they hold medical-dental checkups, erect schoolhouses, dig drainage, and perform other “civil-military operations.” Congratulations are in order for Marine Corps commandant Maj. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, and Naval Forces-Western Mindanao commander Rear Adm. Armando Guzman.

The survey was designed by TNS Philippines and made last Dec. 3-15 with the help of the Notre Dame of Jolo College. Simultaneous polls were done in five other conflict affected areas in Mindanao: Zamboanga, Isabela City, Basilan, Cotabato, and Marawi. The margin of error for Sulu was ±4 percent; in all the survey areas, ±2 percent. Follow-up polls will be made this month.

Compared to the 80-percent trust rating of the AFP in Sulu, it notched 67 percent in the other conflict areas.

Sulu respondents expressed slightly more trust in extremist armed groups than the rest of the conflict zones. But on the whole such trust ratings were less than 20 percent. In contrast, nearly 70 percent of Sulu respondents and more than 60 percent in the other areas consider the Abu Sayyaf a threat. No Sulu family would allow a member to join a terrorist band. Eighty-four percent of Sulu residents feel safe in their communities, almost the same as the rest of the conflict areas, 86 percent.

Most respondents are aware of rewards offered by the government to individuals and groups who help in the capture of armed extremists. But only 23 percent of Sulu respondents and 32 percent in the other conflict zones said they would avail of such rewards. The main reason cited to shun rewards is the fear of retribution.

The survey looked as well into the education, income, employment and lifestyle of respondents. Many more Sulu respondents than in other conflict areas had no electricity, TV sets, mobiles, Internet, radio, running water, refrigerators, or two-wheeled transport in their homes.

The survey would come in handy for Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao. More so when he embarks, on orders of Malacañang, on a drive against loose firearms.

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GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc 

The Philippine Star

March 02, 2012 12:00 AM

Article Link

Kidnapped Europeans now with Abu Sayyaf in Sulu

MANILA, Philippines - The investigations into the kidnapping of Dutch Ewold Horn, 52, and Swiss Lorenzo Vinciguerra, 47, on February 3 are bringing new leads, intelligence sources told Rappler.

Initially, investigators thought a local dispute led to the kidnapping of the Europeans. They had been bird-watching for 4 days in Tawi-Tawi before they were kidnapped by armed men now believed to be former members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), according to an intelligence official.  

The MNLF was the Philippines' largest Muslim separatist group until it signed a peace agreement with the government in 1996.  Many former members joined the Armed Forces of the Philippines, but many hard-liners joined the Abu Sayyaf.

Sources told Rappler that the Europeans were brought to Abu Sayyaf leader Yasser Igasan in Sulu. Their transfer from Tawi-Tawi to Patikul, Sulu was allegedly coordinated by MNLF commander Tahil Sali and Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron.

Another intelligence source confirmed the 2 Europeans are now in Sulu and that an Abu Sayyaf member is now looking to negotiate their release.

Cottage industry

The Abu Sayyaf has turned kidnapping-for-ransom into a cottage industry.  Handing hostages to larger, better armed groups is a common practice.  Larger groups can better protect and evade authorities. All involved then get a cut of the ransom, according to members of the Abu Sayyaf.

There have been 4 waves in the Abu Sayyaf's evolution, alternating between terrorism and crime.  

It was formed and funded in the early 90's by a splinter group from the MNLF aided by the brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden and trained by agents of Al-Qaeda (1991-1998).  

The second wave happened after the death of its founder, Abdurajak Janjalani, and ran from 1998 till 2002.  

Jemaah Islamiyah helped reorient the group towards terrorism again during its third wave of evolution between 2002 to 2008.  

During that time, the Abu Sayyaf carried out the region's worst maritime terrorist attack, the Superferry bombing in 2004. A year later, it carried out near-simultaneous, coordinated attacks, including one in Manila, on Valentine's day.  

Finally, the fourth wave began in 2008 with the kidnapping of an ABS-CBN news team, signalling the degeneration of the Abu Sayyaf back into kidnapping for ransom. That was followed 6 months later by the kidnapping of members of the International Committee of the Red Cross.  

The kidnappings have continued since then. 

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By: Maria Ressa

Posted on 02/22/2012 7:40 PM  | Updated 02/22/2012 8:28 PM

Rappler.com

Link

Deaths of 3 terror suspects in PH ‘a terrific blow’ to terrorism—AFP

MANILA, Philippines—Three of the biggest suspected terrorists in the Philippines were slain in pre-dawn air strikes in Sulu on Thursday, including a top leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah network who carried a $5 million bounty on his head, and the elusive commander of the Abu Sayyaf Group.

In what the military termed as a “terrific blow” to terrorism, Air Force, Navy and Army troops killed 15 terrorists, including ASG commander Umbra Jumdail, also known as “Doc Abu,” and JI leaders Zulkifli bin Hir or “Marwan,” a Malaysian, and Singaporean Abdullah Ali, also known as “Muawiyah.”

“This is a terrific blow, a big blow, (to) the Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiyah,” the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson, Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. said.

In a briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Burgos said the operation took place at about 3 a.m. in Parang town “based on a thorough well-executed plan and months of continuous monitoring and surveillance of JI and ASG personalities.”

“The air strikes by two OV-10 Broncos took only seconds,” he said, adding that the targets had had no chance to retaliate. At the time, intelligence reports had put the number of terrorists on the ground at 30, he said.

The terrorists were found in a thickly vegetated area under the cover of coconut trees. “As per the description of the operation officer, the one conducting the operation,  there were coconut trees and the area was thick, and there were tents. They were probably sleeping [when the air strikes started],” he said.

“The troops on ground have confirmed the deaths of 15 ASG and JI members,” Burgos said.

Burgos said Doc Abu had a bounty of P7.4 million put up by the Philippine government on top of a $140,000-reward offered by the US State Department for his arrest in relation to his involvement in the May 2001 kidnapping in the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan.

On the other hand, the Philippine and US governments have offered rewards of P7.4 million and $5 million, respectively for the capture of Marwan, the 29th most wanted person by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, for multiple counts of kidnapping.

The arrest of bomb trainer Mawiyah, a known JI contact, carried a $50,000 bounty, Burgos said.

“Based on the report, the information we got is from the civilian informers who cooperated with us in our all-out-justice campaign,” he told reporters.

Burgos said he could not describe the condition of the 15 bodies that were retrieved on the ground.

Asked if there was need for DNA tests, he said the Philippine National Police had “confirmed” the identities of the three suspects. The names of the 12 others were not yet available, he said.

Burgos said the local police had custody of the corpses and he could not say where these were taken.

Asked if the United States had a hand in the operation, he said: “The US has been providing us assistance in terms of intelligence and in terms of technology. What was important was the intelligence provided to us in this case.”

He said intelligence reports indicated that six JI personalities entered the Philippines in December 2011, but they were still checking how many remained.

Burgos said no civilians were killed in the operation. “I would like to make it clear as of now there is no reported casualty or collateral damage,” he said.

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By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer

5:43 pm | Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Link

AFP: Location and captors of 2 kidnapped Europeans still unknown

ZAMBOANGA  - A military spokesman said Thursday they had failed to find two European birdwatchers in the crucial 24 hours after their abduction and warned Islamic militants may be holding them.

Hundreds of Marines joined the search for Swiss Lorenzo Vinciguerra, 47, and Dutchman Ewold Horn, 52, who were seized by armed men on the remote Tawi Tawi archipelago in the lawless south of the country on Wednesday.

"There is a massive search-and-rescue operation right now to find the kidnappers and their captives," regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang told AFP.

"Though, as of the moment, we have not pinpointed their exact location."

Cabangbang said one of the groups that may be involved in the abductions was the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for a spate of other kidnappings of foreigners in the south.

He said the navy was trying to block routes leading to Jolo, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold near Tawi Tawi where an army air raid on Thursday morning left 15 militants dead, including one of Southeast Asia's most wanted men.

Cabangbang said the first 24 hours were crucial in deciding the fate of people kidnapped in the area because this was when they were typically taken into the abductors' rugged jungle lairs on remote islands.

"If the trail goes cold, the chances of recovering them swiftly will vanish little by little," he said.

At least 10 other foreigners have been kidnapped in the south since the middle of 2010, in what is largely a ransom business with Abu Sayyaf and other militants demanding huge amounts of money for their captives' release.

Five of those kidnapped -- an Australian, two Malaysian traders, an Indian married to a Filipina and a Japanese man -- remain in captivity.

The military said some of those hostages were believed to be on Jolo, but their fate after Thursday's bombing raid was unknown.

Over the past decade, dozens of foreigners and locals have been kidnapped. Some of them, including an American, were beheaded after ransoms were not paid.

Cabangbang said the Jolo raid had been planned for months targeting leaders of the Abu Sayyaf and Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, and was not directly connected to the kidnapping of the Europeans.

Ivan Sarenas, a Filipino guide for the two wildlife enthusiasts, was also kidnapped, but said he managed to jump off a boat that was taking the abducted men away.

"There was a passing boat and I decided to go for it. I held the barrel of the long firearm of the man in front of me with one arm and jumped out," he told AFP by phone.

He said Vinciguerra and Horn had travelled to Tawi Tawi, ignoring foreign government advisories about the kidnapping threat there because they wanted to see the Sulu hornbill, a critically endangered bird species.

"They are both into hornbills and they told me they wanted to see the rarest ones before they grew old," Sarenas said.

A colleague of Sarenas's from the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines said the Europeans were believed to have been taken by locals who apparently planned to hand them over to a militant group.

In the local kidnapping-for-ransom business, it is common for small abduction gangs to "sell" their captives to more powerful organisations such as the Abu Sayyaf.

The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed the incident and said it was doing "everything in its power to ensure that the hostages are released safe and sound".

A rotating force of 600 US troops has been stationed in the southern region of Mindanao for a decade, helping to train local soldiers how to combat the Abu Sayyaf and other Islamic militants.

But the militants have remained a threat, partly because of their ability to raise funds through kidnapping-for-ransom operations. The Abu Sayyaf is believed to have just a few hundred militants.

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CHRISTIAN DONIO

 Agence France Presse

February 2, 2012 11:29pm

Link

Kidnapped Filipino guide escapes from captors in Tawi-Tawi

MANILA, Philippines—A Filipino guide seized Wednesday in Tawi-Tawi along with two European birdwatchers has escaped from their abductors, police told INQUIRER.net.

Ivan Sarenas escaped from the five gunmen who abducted him said Director Felicisimo Khu, chief of the Directorate of Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao.

But the foreigners—Swiss national Lorenzo Vinciguerra, 47, and Dutchman Ewold Horn, 52—remain with their captors, Khu said.

The gunmen seized the three men while they were on a birdwatching trip in Sitio Look-look, in the village of Parangan in Panglima Sugala town, he said.

They were forced onto a speedboat, regional military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Randolph Cabangbang told Agence France-Presse.

A second Filipino guide escaped  and was the first to report the crime to authorities, he added.

Sarenas, meanwhile, escaped by jumping out of the speeding pump boat at around 9:30 p.m., he said in a report he sent to Philippine National Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr.

He has been brought to Panglima Sugala municipal police station where he was being interviewed by the police director for Tawi-Tawi, said Khu.

Sarenas is a member of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines and frequently visits Tawi-Tawi, the club’s treasurer, Michael Lu, told Agence France-Presse.

“He had been a frequent visitor to Tawi-Tawi and he is the only person I know who has pictures of rare birds from that area, such as the Sulu hornbill,” Lu said.

The Dutch foreign ministry refused to confirm the abduction at present and said it did not know the identity of the person kidnapped.

Cabangbang said the military did not yet know who abducted the trio.

Police said that the suspects armed with an M203, two M16 rifles, and two caliber .45 pistols, were on board a pump boat and might be headed towards Sulu.

The Tawi-Tawi Crisis Management Committee has since been activated with joint forces of the police, navy and marines working to rescue the victims.

Wednesday’s abductions lift the number of foreigners kidnapped in Mindanao since the beginning of last year to more than 10.

Five of them — an Australian, two Malaysian traders, an Indian married to a Filipina and a Japanese man — are still in captivity. Three abducted Filipinos are also still being held.

The Australian, 53-year-old Warren Rodwell, was kidnapped from his home in in a southern town in December and appeared in a video released to media last month in which he said his adbuctors were demanding $2 million for his release.

In 2000 the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 21 mostly European tourists from a Malaysian island resort and brought them by boat to the Philippine island of Jolo, not far from Tawi Tawi.

The hostages were ransomed off after many months for millions of dollars, with Libya brokering the deals and facilitating their release.

The following year the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped three Americans along with a group of Filipino tourists from a southwestern Philippine island resort. One of the Americans was beheaded and another was killed during a rescue attempt.

The Abu Sayyaf was founded in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.

It is believed to have only a few hundred militants but is blamed for the country’s worst terrorist attacks, including the bombing of a ferry in Manila in 2004 that killed more than 100 people, as well as the kidnappings.

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By Karen Boncocan
Agence France-Presse, INQUIRER.net

6:00 am | Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Link

Two Europeans kidnapped in Philippines: military

Two European birdwatchers were abducted Wednesday in the remote southern Philippines where Islamic militants frequently kidnap foreigners to extort ransoms, authorities said.

Gunmen seized the men, a Dutch and a Swiss, on a tiny island that is part of the Tawi-Tawi archipelago and forced them onto a speedboat, said regional police chief Felicisimo Khu.

Ivan Sarenas, a Filipino guide, was also kidnapped but later jumped off the boat and swam to safety, while a second guide had escaped earlier and reported the crime to authorities, Khu said in a written report.

"Ivan Sarenas was able to escape from his abductors by jumping out of the speeding pumpboat," Khu said.

The gunmen were still holding Swiss national Lorenzo Vinciguerra, 47, and Dutchman Ewold Horn, 52, the official added.

Khu said the Philippine Navy mounted a naval blockade of the island to prevent them escaping to the nearby Sulu archipelago, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf militants who have kidnapped foreigners in the past for ransom.

Sarenas is a member of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines and went to the area in search of the critically-endangered Sulu bleeding-heart pigeon, one of the world's rarest birds, the club's treasurer, Michael Lu, told AFP.

Lu described the suspects as locals.

"They apparently planned to sell them (hostages) to the Abu Sayyaf or the MILF," he said, referring to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim armed group now in peace talks with the government after a decades-old guerrilla war.

The Dutch foreign ministry refused to confirm the abduction and said it did not know the identity of those kidnapped.

Regional military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Randolph Cabangbang said the military did not yet know who abducted the trio.

But immediate suspicion fell on Islamic militants who are based in the southern Philippines and frequently kidnap foreigners as well as locals in efforts to extort ransoms.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf is the most infamous group based in the south, but other bandits and kidnapping gangs also roam the often lawless area that is close to Malaysian waters.

A rotating force of 600 US troops have been stationed in the southern region of Mindanao for a decade, helping to train local soldiers how to combat the Abu Sayyaf and other Islamic militants.

Wednesday's abductions lifted the number of foreigners kidnapped in the southern Philippines since the beginning of last year to 10.

Five of them -- an Australian, two Malaysian traders, an Indian married to a Filipina and a Japanese man -- are still in captivity. Three abducted Filipinos are also still being held.

The Australian, 53-year-old Warren Rodwell, was kidnapped from his home in in a southern town in December and appeared in a video released to media last month in which he said his abductors were demanding $2 million for his release.

"To the Australian embassy here in the Philippines, this is your constituent appealing for his life, his safety. Please help facilitate," Rodwell said.

In 2000 the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 21 mostly European tourists from a Malaysian island resort and brought them by boat to the Philippine island of Jolo, not far from Tawi Tawi.

The hostages were ransomed off after many months for millions of dollars, with Libya brokering the deals and facilitating their release.

The following year the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped three Americans along with a group of Filipino tourists from a southwestern Philippine island resort. One of the Americans was beheaded and another was killed during a rescue attempt.

The Abu Sayyaf was founded in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

It is believed to have only a few hundred militants but is blamed for the country's worst terrorist attacks, including the bombing of a ferry in Manila in 2004 that killed more than 100 people, as well as kidnappings.

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By Cecil Morella | AFP News

February 2,2012

Link