Abu Sayyaf outwits RP military?

Abu Sayyaf outwits RP military?

MANILA: A week after the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 20 people from
the Dos Palmas Resort in Palawan, government forces had the
bandits where they wanted them to be. In what looked like a fatal
miscalculation, the kidnappers swooped down Saturday on St.
Peter's Church in Lamitan, Basilan, took a priest and several
others hostage, and then took over a nearby hospital apparently
to seek treatment for some of its wounded leaders.

By late afternoon, government forces had the area surrounded,
prompting President Macapagal to declare that the bandits were
cornered and that military was ready to wipe them out.

Just hours after the President spoke, all hopes vanished of
terminating the crisis quickly and exterminating the terrorist
group completely. Shortly after midnight, the raiders, who have
been masquerading as Muslim fundamentalist rebels, with several
hostages in tow escaped under cover of darkness and amid a hail
of gunfire. When the firing ended at around 4 p.m. that Sunday
morning, the Abu Sayyaf had vanished into the more friendly
forest. Government troops found a badly damaged church, an empty
hospital and a very disappointed public that was demanding
answers to some very embarrassing questions.

What happened? How did the Abu Sayyaf manage to escape when
government troops had the area surrounded?

Well, they hadn't. On Tuesday AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen.
Edilberto Adan admitted that government troops had not sealed off
the area. "It takes time to put up a cordon," he said.

Adan earlier told the media that between 60 and 100 Abu Sayyaf
bandits had provided cover for their escaping comrades and
hostages. He said the kidnappers used their hostages as "human
shields," preventing the troops from engaging them in a gun
battle. "There was a trade-off here because we didn't want the
hostages hurt," he said.

However, a Marine officer was quoted as saying there was
apparently a breakdown of communications that misled everyone
into thinking that the place had been sealed off. Some residents
said the Abu Sayyaf walked out of the compound unmolested.

A retired general expressed disbelief over the military's
claim that the troops could not fire at the fleeing bandits for
fear of hitting the hostages. He pointed out that Scout Rangers
were among the troops assigned to seal off the area and these
soldiers are "trained good shots." The more likely explanation
for the incredible escape of the bandits was "a failure of
command," he said. "The ground commander obviously did not
consider that the main objective of the Abu Sayyaf was to
escape."

If so the entire rescue operation has been one failure after
another. While military officials have noted that the Abu Sayyaf
seems better equipped than the AFP, it is becoming clear that
this may only explain the bandits' daring but hardly the
government's inability to stop their criminal activities.

For instance, the Abu Sayyaf raiders went to Dos Palmas in a
kumpit powered by a modern Volvo engine that could slice the
water at 40 knots an hour. That might explain why the Philippine
Navy couldn't catch up with the group as it made its way to
Cagayan de Sulu.

But from then on it was a slow boat to their home base in
Basilan, according to a fisherman whose boat was commandeered by
the bandits that very same day. Julian Rayla said the Abu Sayyaf
intercepted their boat, which already had 10 other fishermen on
board, and used it to bring their hostages to Basilan.

The trip took two days and two nights, Rayla said, and all the
time they saw no signs of the military blockade that government
was supposed to have put up precisely to prevent the bandits from
reaching their sanctuaries in Basilan or Sulu. What happened to
all the boats and aircraft the AFP was supposed to have
dispatched to find the Abu Sayyaf and their hostages?

Clearly the government forces have been outwitted and
outmaneuvered by the Abu Sayyaf. And not only once, but twice in
this kidnapping episode. These mistakes have not only been very
embarrassing to the government forces but also very costly in
terms of human lives.

To date, at least 16 soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel
and a captain, have been killed in several encounters with the
Abu Sayyaf. Two hostages have also been beheaded by the bandits
in reprisal for the government's pursuit and rescue operations,
and seven civilians have been killed in the crossfire. Instead of
dampening their spirit, this series of setbacks should spur the
troops to finish the fight. That's the only way the military can
redeem itself from the blunders that have brought it so much
embarrassment and grief.

-- Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network