JI-ASG Training Facility Overrun

by Frencie L. Carreon

The Philippine Armed Forces based in Indanan, Sulu this week overran a long-established and recently-abandoned explosive-making facility of the local terror group Abu Sayyaf Group, that also serves as the camp where Jemaah Islamiyah.accomplices conducts training for ASG members.

Military authorities said that improvised explosive devices (IED) that were essential for bomb-making, including 2 81mm mortars, 23 point-detonating fuses, 6 kg of shrapnel made from rebar, 1 electrical wire spool, 3 81mm mortar tail fins, and 26 tetryl booster caps were recovered at the abandoned ASG camp by the 2nd Light Reaction Company. The mortar tail fins were not impinged, and the fuses unfired.

“It’s clear that these are improvised explosive materials and (are) intended for innocent civilians whom they want to victimize…An eight-centimeter piece of steel rebar can tear a flesh and kill any innocent within the area,” said Task Force Comet Commander Brig. Gen. Alexander Aleo.

Aleo lauded the efforts of the AFP troops. “It is impossible to know how many innocent lives have been saved through the work of the AFP in recovering these materials. Had they been planted and exploded, many innocent lives would have been lost again Sulu, just like the Match 2006 bombing in a cooperative market in Jolo,” Aleo added.

In a press conference, Maj. Mabini Abduhadi of the Civil Relations Group (CRG) said the lawless elements had long occupied the said camp, and Philippine Armed Operations had been, in the past months, combining efforts to run down the camp site.

The camp site, located somewhere past Sitio Timahuk in Barangay BatuBatu in Indanan, Sulu, is within distance from another ASG camp in Mount Bud Kabuh. It is however far from the Moro National Liberation Front’s Camp Marang, which is controlled by MNLF-Sulu State Revolutionary Chairman Khaid Ajibun.

No one among AFP troops however was able to identify during and after the operations whether among the fleeing enemies were Jemaah Islamiyah’s Dulmatin (alias Muktamar, Amar usman, Djoko Supriyanto, or Joko Pitono), and Umar Patek (alias Kecil and Pak Taek). The US Government is offering a reward for the capture of Dulmatin at P500M and for Patek at P50M, both of whom are still believed to be within Philippine soil.

“AFP success means the people of Sulu win against the terrorists and criminals when the AFP can secure the area and prevent violence and destruction,” General Aleo said.

Under Project Balikatan, the AFP is provided by the United States Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines (JSOTFP) with extensive support in information gathering, with the implementation of the Philippine Rewards Program.

The AFP thus urges the people of Sulu to report any ASG and JI location and movement as well as any information on explosive materials. The sooner the island can be secured, the sooner the development and prosperity can take place in Sulu. (Frencie L. Carreon)