Military steps up offensive vs BIFF, Abu Sayyaf

MANILA, Philippines - Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. has ordered the sustained campaign against the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) following the successive offensives against the armed groups last week.

“I want to significantly lessen the bandits’ ability to carry out violent attacks against civilians before I retire in July 2015,” Catapang said in a statement issued yesterday.

“We can protect the civilian populace by isolating them from armed groups. We also need accurate information from the people themselves,” he added.

Catapang reminded the troops to minimize collateral damage during their operations.

A total of 24 Abu Sayyaf bandits and two soldiers were killed in recent clashes in Sulu last week.

The Joint Task Group Sulu has received information that Abu Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron was wounded during one of the encounters but this is still being verified.

Armed Forces spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla said another Abu Sayyaf leader, Hatib Sawadjaan, was also injured but the report has also to be validated.

“Philippines is looking for a decisive engagement but the Abu Sayyaf do not clash with us head on. They have been avoiding us since they sustained losses during the previous engagement,” Padilla said.

With regard to the BIFF, the breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Catapang said it would take about six months before the rebels are totally decimated.

He said the armed group would be significantly decimated in the next three months.

Usman cohorts killed?

Citing field reports, AFP public affairs chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said three Tausug lieutenants of wanted terrorist Basit Usman were killed in a recent encounter with government troops in Maguindanao.

Details of the operation were not immediately available but Cabunoc said the three were killed during the assault by the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade.

“More troops were sent in to scour the hiding places of Usman in the middle of the Liguasan marsh,” Cabunoc said.

Usman was one of the terrorists targeted in the police operation in Mamasapano on Jan. 25 where 44 police commandos died in a firefight with Muslim rebels.

The primary target, Malaysian bomb expert Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, was killed during the operation.

Usman and his followers are allegedly hiding in communities controlled by the BIFF and MILF.

Catapang has ordered an all-out offensive against the BIFF, whose clashes with the MILF have resulted in the displacement of more than 20,000 people in Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

To prevent a spillover of the clashes, the military provided artillery support to the MILF, which is currently talking peace with the government. At least 20 BIFF rebels were killed during the shelling, according to military officials.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division has cleared the Tacurong-Cotabato highway after the clashes in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao last Friday that left three soldiers wounded.

Catapang has also ordered field commanders to help transport evacuees back to their respective villages.

“We want the civilians to live peacefully in their communities. This is the reason why we are driving the BIFF away from their homes,” he said.