Philippines to dispatch more troops to hunt down Islamic militants

Philippines to dispatch more troops to hunt down Islamic militants
Deutsche Presse AgenturPublished: Friday September 1, 2006

Manila- More government troops will be dispatched to a southern Philippine island where the military is hunting down al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militants, an official said Friday. General Hermogenes Esperon, armed forces chief of staff, said a group of 92 elite army scout rangers has been assigned to augment security forces on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila. Eight marine and army battalions are currently involved in the hunt against Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebel chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants Dulmatin and Omar Patek. "Janjalani and his cohorts are still in Jolo," Esperon said. "It is hard to find a needle in a haystack. We will be inserting in Jolo scout rangers who are on test mission." He, however, did not say when exactly the additional troops would arrive in Jolo. The troops last encountered Janjalani's group on August 24 when scout rangers clashed with Abu Sayyaf fighters in the hinterlands of Patikul town. Three soldiers were killed and 31 others injured in the August 24 clash. The military said soldiers also killed 13 rebels and captured five others, while seven other guerrillas were injured during the fighting. The Abu Sayyaf rebel group has been held responsible for deadly terrorist attacks in the Philippines as well as high-profile kidnappings of foreign nationals. The military has been conducting an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf since the start of the month in a bid to flush out Dulmatin and Patek, who are allegedly under the protection of the rebels. Dulmatin and Patek are key suspects in the October 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, which killed more than 200 people. The United States has included the Abu Sayyaf and JI on its blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations because of their alleged links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.