ZAMBOANGA CITY, 26 August 2003 — The military yesterday alerted soldiers and policemen and warned citizens of a fresh wave of terror attacks by members of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group on Mindanao island.
The warning was made by the Southern Command in Zamboanga City and said the rebels would mount the attacks to avenge the death of Abu Sayyaf leader Abdulmukim Edris.
Edris escaped along with Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah bomb-maker Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi and another Abu Sayyaf man Omar Kasak from a police prison facility in Manila on July 14 and was recaptured Aug. 8 together with a rebel leader Mahmood Ismael on a military checkpoint in Lanao del Norte province.
He and Ismael were killed by soldiers after they allegedly tried to grab the firearms of their escorts while leading security forces to Al-Ghozi’s hideout, the military said. Al-Ghozi remains at-large.
“ASG personalities in Mindanao are planning to conduct bombing activities to avenge the death of Edris,” the statement said.
It said the rebels would disguise themselves as members of the military and police to confuse authorities. “They plan to use PNP and AFP uniforms as cover to mislead government troops in the implementation of the terror plan. PNP and AFP operatives are on the alert to counter such plan”.
The Southern Command did not give details of the terror plan or how it obtained the information.
But the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) warned that the report could be part of a military strategy as a prelude to new government offensive against the rebels in the southern Philippines.
“This is a part of a military plot for a fresh offensive against Muslim rebels in Mindanao to divert the attention of the public away from the political turmoil in Manila and away from the scandal that the Arroyo government is now facing,” rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu told reporters.
Meanwhile, Police Director General Hermogenes Ebdane said he was confident that Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi was still in the country, although the fugitive attempted to leave the country shortly after his escape on July 14.
“Give me more time,” Ebdane said, when asked about the progress of the hunt. “There’s so many information given to us but we are trying to screen these.”
Over the weekend, Malaysian authorities claimed to have foiled at least four attempts by Al-Ghozi to enter Sabah with Filipino Islamic militants.
Al-Ghozi is the top JI operative convicted for illegal possession of explosives and falsification of public documents. An independent task force probing his escape from the national police headquarters is expected to submit its report later this week.
