ManilaMailDC.Net - US troops helping in Basilan operation

ZAMBOANGA CITY – About a dozen US soldiers were deployed to Basilan Island to help troops defeat terrorism, officials said Sept. 19. At the request of Western Mindanao Command a small number of US forces moved to Basilan to support Task Force Thunder in their efforts against the Abu Sayyaf group, said Maj. Eugene Batara, an army spokesman.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) created the task force to crush growing Abu Sayyaf presence in Basilan Island, where militants decapitated ten Marines in Al-Barka town in July.

He said the American troops, assigned to the Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines, are part of the ongoing US support in operations against terrorist organizations throughout Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. “This support includes the sharing of information as well as the planning and execution of Civil Military Operations. US troops have commonly supported AFP operations in Basilan going back to 2002, and have worked with the AFP most recently to conduct medical clinics and participate in engineering projects," Batara said. He said the presence of US advisors in Basilan is similar to what American forces are doing in Sulu. “They are helping us defeat terrorism and at the same time help carry out humanitarian activities," he said, adding, the US troops would not be involved in combat operations.

More than a thousand US troops were previously sent to Basilan five years ago to train Filipino soldiers in antiterro¡rism exercises dubbed as Balikatan 2002.

Balikatan, which means “shoulder-to-shoulder,” is a series of annual trainings aimed at improving combined planning, combat readiness, and interoperability while enhancing security relations and demonstrating US resolve to support the Philippines against aggression and assist the local military counter terrorism. Meanwhile, despite the much-ballyhooed claim that it had the Abu Sayyaf terrorist band cornered in Basilan, the AFP now admits the terrorists have split into many groups making it more difficult to track them down. The military said members of the Abu Sayyaf who are trying to escape the tight cordon put up by soldiers in bandit lairs in Basilan have splintered into seven to 10 groups in a bid to lose their trackers. Some have been caught in Palawan and others have escaped to Zamboanga and Sulu, it was claimed.

Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, Western Mindanao Command deputy chief and commander of the task force tracking down the terorists, said that while the Abu Sayyaf gunmen have broken down into several groups and are highly mobile, Army troops and Marines who are pursuing them have already confined them in certain areas in the towns of Sumisip, Al-Barka and Tipo-Tipo.

“Their strategy of splintering into several groups was to escape the dragnet put up by the troops, but government forces expect to engage the bandits in the next few days. Just wait," Sabban told reporters. “There was a lull in the fighting, simply because the bandits are highly mobile, moving from one place to another," he added.

Sabban said that while the troops may easily scour the town of Al-Barka and Tipo-Tipo, they may have a hard time covering the whole of Sumisip because of its big area. He said it took the military one year to completely scour the town and rescue Gracia Burnham, who was among those kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf.

Currently, two brigades -one from the Army and one from the Marines -are deployed in Basilan to track down the bandits.

While the bandits are trying to escape to the Zamboanga Peninsula, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu, as they have done in the past, Sabban assured that they will not be able to escape this time. But other sources said many have already escaped to neighboring provinces. Isnilon Hapilon, who is from Basilan, still leads the bandits in Basilan. All over Mindanao, the Abu Sayyaf has still over 300 fighters.

Meanwhile, Sabban advised Moro Islamic Liberation guerrillas to stay away from the Abu Sayyaf as he reiterated that the government would not distinguish separatists rebels from the bandits if they are in each other’s company.