Absence of hostages prompts military to intensify ops in Sulu

From Business Mirror (Jun3, 2019): Absence of hostages prompts military to intensify ops in Sulu

MILITARY operations are expected to further intensify in the province of Sulu following the arrival of more soldiers there and the death of the last remaining captive of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

The deployment of the Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team (1st BCT) over the weekend has made Sulu as the most military saturated province in the country, given that the 11th Infantry Division (11th ID) has also been predeployed or based there.

“As of now, we are really saying there is no more [captive]. In the past, we have records but, without the proof of life, there is no more report [that] they are still there,” Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command Spokesman Col. Gerry Besana said.

Over the weekend, the ASG under its chieftain, Radullan Sahiron, killed Ewold Horn, the Dutch captive held by the local terrorist group, following a firefight with soldiers at Sitio Bud Sub-Sub, Barangay Pansul, Patikul, Sulu, wherein Sahiron’s wife was also killed.

Horn, who was snatched in Tawi-Tawi along with another foreigner in 2012, was the last remaining captive of the ASG in Sulu, according to Besana. More than a week ago, however, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana said that the ASG is still holding 11 captives, including the Dutch.

With the absence of any kidnap victims in the hands of the ASG, Besana said nothing will no longer hold the military from further intensifying its operations in Sulu in its effort to stop terrorism in the province.

In December last year, the military created the 11th ID and based it in Sulu, purposely to end the ASG-borne terrorism in the province, the first in the military’s history where a division-sized of soldiers was deployed in a province to run after a single indigenous threat group.

The division was backed up by specialized units from the Army, Navy and the Marines. On Friday the Army also sent its 1st BCT in Sulu, still to run after the ASG, which according to Besana, still has a record of 200 fighters in the province.

Besana said that while the military maintains a very big number of troops in Sulu, it could not just carry out an all-out war against the ASG in the province since it was holding kidnap victims until the death of Horn.

“That was correct. It became the limitation [the presence of kidnap victims]. We cannot go all-out. We are only doing surgical and selective [operations]. If we bomb [them], the kidnap victims will be hit,” he said.

The local military spokesman justified the military solution as only a part of the holistic approach in dealing with the problem of terrorism in Sulu as it needs to involve the other stakeholders.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/06/03/absence-of-hostages-prompts-military-to-intensify-ops-in-sulu/