Army, police link tactics vs Abus to avoid misencounter

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines   – Military and police commandos have coalesced their combat tactics and capability to avoid possible misencounter in their joint offensive against the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants in Basilan and Sulu, officials said.

Government forces have already deployed its elite forces ranging from Marine Force Reconnaissance Battalion, Army Special Forces, Scout Rangers, Light Reaction Company (LRC), all from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Police Mobile Group and Special Action Forces (SAF) of the Philippine National Police.

Read Admiral Alexander Pama, Naval Forces Western Mindanao Combined chief, said the deployment of the elite forces is to ensure precision of the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.

Pama said the operation doctrines of the commandos from the AFP and PNP have been carefully reviewed for the joint operations against the Abu Sayyaf groups, the small but most violent and brutal militants responsible in the spate of kidnappings, bombings and beheadings of victims.

“Prior to the deployment of the forces, joint conferences have been conducted for the assessment of capability, tactics and techniques and procedures of the operations. We are not worried of possible misencounter of our forces,” Pama said.

Senior Superintendent Rolando Puruganan, deputy chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operation (DIPO) Western Mindanao, set aside observations that the various elite forces of the military and police might be competing for achievement that would result to misencounter.

Puruganan said the center of the operation is how the government security forces neutralize the leadership and ranks of the Abu Sayyaf and its cohorts from the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and lost command rebels.

“That’s the target and not personal achievement,” Puruganan said.

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Victor Ibrado said it has sent all the aces of their forces to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf and the JI militants.

Ibrado said the previous military operations gave them already the upper hand against the Abus citing the encouraging figures of bandit casualties. The deployment of additional forces will give the military more edge and widen its tactical and surgical strikes to different lairs of the Abu Sayyaf in the two provinces.