AFP: RP safe from terror strikes

MANILA, Philippines – The nation is safe from foreign terrorists, the military said yesterday.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Armed Forces public information office chief, said security forces are focused on internal threats like the New People’s Army and the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

“We are doing our best to prevent such incidents from happening,” he said, referring to the terrorist bombing in Pakistan that killed 53 people over the weekend.

Torres further said

allied countries in Southeast Asia are in close coordination to monitor foreign terrorist organizations.

The Philippines is a US ally in the global campaign against terrorism.

Since August 2006, the military has been hunting down the Abu Sayyaf band responsible for a series of terrorist attacks, as well as the kidnapping of foreigners.

Troops have also been running after two Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah bomb experts: Dulmatin – who goes by one name – and Umar Patek, who are both wanted for the terrorist bombing in Bali, Indonesia in 2002.

On Sept 4, 2006, Abu Sayyaf leader Khaddafi Janjalani was killed in a clash with Marines in the jungles of Patikul, Sulu.

His spokesman, Jainal Antel Sali alias Abu Solaiman, was slain in another encounter with Army Special Forces, also in Sulu.

The military also warned that rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte could resort to terrorism to divert the attention of troops.

Help for injured Pinay

President Arroyo has ordered agencies to immediately extend assistance to the Filipino woman reportedly injured in the terror attack in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was directed to help Ummkulson Khan-Haider, who was reportedly injured in a powerful blast that hit Marriott Hotel where she works as a receptionist.

Haider was reportedly critically injured in the attack attributed to al-Qaeda-linked militants. She is reportedly confined at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.

“We are finding out what assistance can be extended to the Filipina through our agency in Islamabad,” Ermita said.

The victim’s sister appealed yesterday to the government for help as no word has reached the family on her condition.

Mariam Khan-Guiral said she and the rest of the family only learned about Haider’s condition through her brother who is based in Saudi Arabia.

She said the DFA has not yet given any report regarding her sister.

“Please don’t abandon my sister. We heard that she sustained injuries in one of her eyes. How can she work?” Guiral told ABS-CBN’s “Umagang Kay Ganda.” - Paolo Romero