RP launches airstrikes on militant groups<\/p>\n
Philippine helicopter gunships and planes on Thursday attacked a
\nsuspected meeting between leaders of the al-Qaeda affiliated Abu
\nSayyaf and Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) militant groups, the military
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Among those suspected of being in the area attacked in the
\nsouthern Philippines were the senior leaders of the Abu Sayyaf
\nand a certain Dulmatin, an Indonesian alleged to have been behind
\nthe deadly Bali bombings in 2002.<\/p>\n
The strikes were based on intelligence reports that the Abu
\nSayyaf was meeting with Indonesian members of the JI network
\nalong with renegade members of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic
\nLiberation Front (MILF) who had broken a cease-fire with the
\ngovernment to attack an army outpost.<\/p>\n
Among the Abu Sayyaf leaders reportedly in the area were its
\nchief Khadaffy Janjalani and senior members Abu Soliman and
\nIsnilon Hapilon said Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza, military chief of
\nthe southern island of Mindanao.<\/p>\n
Regional military spokesman Col. Franklin Del Prado said the
\ntargets were in a group of houses scattered in a forested, marshy
\narea on the outskirts of Datu Piang and Saudi Ampatuan towns.<\/p>\n
Braganza said that among the JI members reported to be in the
\narea was Dulmatin, \"who figured in the Bali bombing.\"<\/p>\n
Del Prado said Dulmatin was accompanied by two other
\nIndonesians identified as Maruan and Mauyha, supposedly members
\nof JI regional Islamic militant network.<\/p>\n
However the officials would not say how Dulmatin entered the
\nPhilippines or what he and the others were doing in the country.<\/p>\n
The Abu Sayyaf and JI members were meeting members of an MILF
\nfaction that overran a military outpost in the southern town of
\nMamasapano on Jan. 10, leaving about 21 soldiers and rebels dead,
\nBraganza said.<\/p>\n
The two MILF commanders Abdul Rahman Binago and Abdul Wahid
\nTundok led their men in attacking the army outpost without the
\nsanction of the front's leadership but the rebels have refused to
\nturn the two commanders over.<\/p>\n
Braganza said MG 520 helicopter gunships and OV-10 attack
\nplanes, backed by artillery, were used because ground forces had
\ndifficulty entering the marshy area.<\/p>\n
Some of the helicopters were hit by rebel machinegun fire but
\nreturned to base safely, a military report said.<\/p>\n
Troops were assessing the effect of the strikes, del Prado
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Janjalani heads the Abu Sayyaf, a Moro extremist group known
\nmainly for kidnapping and bombing attacks against Christians and
\nforeigners in the Philippines for over a decade.<\/p>\n
It has been linked by both Washington and Manila to the al-
\nQaeda network of Osama bin Laden. --AFP<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rp-launches-airstrikes-on-militant-groups-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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