Massive combat operations are now taking place in Sulu as
part of government's efforts to totally eradicate the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
menace in the province.
Armed Forces of the Philippines(AFP) public affairs office
chief Col. Edgard Arevalo in press briefing Friday said the ongoing operations
include the use of air, artillery and naval firepower and a prepoderance of
combat troops which he now placed at 6,500 to 7,000 in Sulu alone.
Arevalo said these combat troops are all under Joint Task
Force Sulu and consist of Army, Air Force and Navy units.
And while combat operations have taken place in Maimbung and
Indanan Thursday, no casualties have been reported on both sides, he added.
Pursuit operations are ongoing against the bandit group as
of this posting.
And due to heavy military pressure, Arevalo said they are
now receiving reports that the terrorists are now splintering into smaller
groups to mix with the civilian population.
While this would make it harder for the military to hunt the
ASG, it would also make the terrorists more vulnerable to attacks by government
forces.
Arevalo said intelligence and civil-military operations are
now underway to stall this ASG evasion tactic.
Around 15 troopers were killed and 12 others were wounded
after military units clashed heavily with ASG bandits, headed by Radullan
Sahiron, in Sitio Kan Jalul, Barangay Maligay, Patikul, Sulu last Aug. 29.
A total of 30 terrorists were reported to have been killed
during the ongoing focused military operations against the ASG which started
last week.
Another 11 brigands were reported wounded in the series of
clashes with government forces.
The offensive was the offshoot of the bandit group's brutal
beheading of 18-year-old Patrick Jhames Almodavar last week.
`http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=919477
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