AFP getting upper hand in ongoing campaign against ASGs

From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 23): AFP getting upper hand in ongoing campaign against ASGs

Outgoing Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya said efforts to neutralize the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Basilan and Jolo (Sulu) is getting better as more and more bandits are being eliminated in the ongoing focused military operations.

"I would like to tell you that the situation in Mindanao, particularly in Basilan and Jolo is getting better and this only the first time in the history of (the) Armed Forces that a mass surrender of ASG (around 20 brigands) took place," he noted.

Visaya was referring to the surrender of 20 ASG bandits, along with their weapons, last Sept. 23 in Basilan.

He also dismissed claims that kidnapping attacks perpetrated by the bandits are on the rise, adding that it was greatly reduced with the Navy's ongoing sea denial operations and deployment of the BRP Tarlac (LD-601) between the maritime boundaries of the Philippines and Malaysia.

"There were two kidnapping incidents happened in Malaysia but the perpetrators were unable to enter our territory because of the strategic location of our naval assets there," Visaya stressed.

Since the AFP conducted its offensive against the ASG in July, bandits killed in Sulu during the July-October period has reached 60, with another 19 wounded, and 30 captured.

While in Basilan, military units have killed 10, wounded three, and captured two while 34 voluntarily surrendered to the AFP.

Visaya said these operations have made a sizeable dent against the ASG terrorists those active strength is estimated to around 400 armed men
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These figure includes the death of key terror personalities Mohammad Said, Jamiri Jawhari, Musanna Jamiri, and Nelson and Braun Muktadil.

Visaya, a member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1983, is scheduled to step down on Dec. 7.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=942685