Sayyaf, jihadists on run as troops step up attacks

From the Manila Standard Today (Nov 10): Sayyaf, jihadists on run as troops step up attacks

THE Abu Sayyaf and the Filipino jihadists inspired by the Islamic State in Syria are on the run as five battalions of soldiers in Basilan and 1,200 troopers in Sulu are hunting them down, a source said Sunday.

“Because of the massive deployment of security forces in Mindanao, the jihadist may have sought cover in the jungles to avoid being intercepted,” said Rolando Mendoza, a former police intelligence director and now president of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research.

He said the jihadists could be training young Muslim recruits who would be tasked to conduct bombings and other terrorist actions in various parts of Mindanao to ease the pressure on the Abu Sayyaf and other extremists in Sulu, Basilan and Central Mindanao.

He said the jihadists had mysteriously disappeared from their previous training grounds in Basilan Sulu and may have sought cover in the mountains to elude the ground forces going after them.

“They are now mobile to avoid being caught by the security forces,” Mendoza said.
He said tighter security measures and more intelligence operations were needed to frustrate the jihadists and other terrorists.

Meanwhile, the ground forces pursuing the Abu Sayyaf hve seized another terrorist camp in Danag village in Patikul, Sulu, around 9:30 am on Sunday, the ninth camp that the military had captured since an all-out offensive against the Abu Sayaff started following the bandits’ release of two German hostages.

The Islamic State gained prominence in September this year after its warriors waged war against Syria and Iraq and then started recruiting Muslims from around the world to join them. At least a dozens foreign terrorists, including five ISIS members, have reportedly entered the Philippines via Malaysia.

Mendoza said the jihadists were highly mobile when conducting training sessions in the undisclosed camps in Central Mindanao, mostly in the areas covered by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front under Commander Umbra Kato.

“They are moving from one place to another in a very short period of time while on training sorties to avoid detection,” Mendoza said.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/11/10/sayyaf-jihadists-on-run-as-troops-step-up-attacks/