AFP: Abus abandoning camps to flee from troops

Abu Sayyaf bandits are abandoning their camps in Sulu one by one to elude advancing government troops, the military said yesterday.

Lt. Gen. Samuel Bagasin, Armed Forces deputy chief of staff, said the soldiers have overran a number of Abu Sayyaf camps as they step up the hunt for the terrorists.

"We are getting headway in our operations in Jolo," he said.

"I would not like to preempt Southcom (Southern Command) but the Abu Sayyaf is being holed out in interior parts. We have been recovering vacated camps... (a) series of vacated camps as our troops are closing in on Abu Sayyaf.

"So there was a major encounter recently and this indicates that the Abu Sayyaf is being cornered in interior areas of Indanan, Sulu," Bagasin said.

He said the Abu Sayyaf’s limited resources are running thin after launching attacks against government and civilian installations.

"We expect them to be depleting their resources, just like in previous offensives that they have been doing," he said in an earlier interview.

"This is the first time that they have launched offensive, they lost steam after a while because logistics get depleted," Bagasin added.

However, Bagasin said the Abu Sayyaf could easily replenish its logistics.

"Of course, they are a well organized armed force just like the AFP, which can replenish logistics systematically," he said.

Bagasin said Armed Forces chief Gen. Generoso Senga has instructed military field commanders to intensify combat operations against the Abu Sayyaf.

"We’ve been losing some people, well this is part of guerrilla warfare, but it does not mean that we are losing the war... we are not losing the war but we are losing some battles," he said.

Intelligence reports said the Abu Sayyaf is linked with the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah in carrying out criminal activities like the Valentine’s Day bombings in Makati and key cities in Mindanao.

Early this year, an Abu Sayyaf commander was killed in a clash with troops in Barangay Semot in Tuburan, Basilan.

Tanakalun Lianson, alias Tari-Tari, was killed as militiamen led by a Staff Sergeant Precioso caught up with his band and engaged them in a 15-minute firefight.

Lianson’s men withdrew after he was killed. — Cecille Suerte Felipe