ZAMBOANGA CITY, 17 July 2004 - The new chief of the military's Southern Command (SouthCom) yesterday said there would be no letup in the hunt for suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiyah believed to be hiding in areas where separatist rebels operate.
Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga said military intelligence reports persist that certain units of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are harboring the foreign terror suspects.
Senga, the commander of the Philippine Army's 6th Infantry Division based in MILF stronghold Maguindanao province, took over as SouthCom chief with the retirement of Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied the allegations and branded it as a lie.
"We dare the military to show proof of their accusations. The MILF has no links whatsoever with the JI, not even the Al-Qaeda network," he said.
During yesterday's handover ceremony in this southern port city, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Narciso Abaya announced that a joint anti-terrorist training exercise will be held by US and Philippine troops in North Cotabato's Carmen town and in Zamboanga City.
He said the training in Carmen town, codenamed Balance Piston, would be held next week inside a 290-hectare military reservation area.
Another training is due to begin this month in Zamboanga City and would involve at least two light infantry battalions of the Philippine Army.
US and Philippine soldiers are also preparing to start a bridge project in the remote province of Tawi-Tawi near the Sabah border, he said.
"There are lots of activities in the coming weeks. There will be joint RP-US joint military training and development projects and humanitarian or medical mission for Muslims and Christians in the southern Philippines," he told reporters.
Abaya said the training would not be held near MILF strongholds. "Let me assure that this training will be solely confined to the military reservation area, but the medical mission would be held in civilian areas in Carmen town to help our poor brothers there," he said.
Dozens of US Special Forces soldiers had arrived in Zamboanga City from Okinawa, Japan, and are now preparing for the training. American and Filipino troops also held a similar training last year and in 2002 in Zamboanga City and in Basilan Island. The joint training is part of an annual exercise dubbed as Balikatan, which means shoulder-to-shoulder.
The US military had also assisted and advised the AFP in the past.
that led to the killing of key members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and the rescue in 2001 of kidnapped American missionary Gracia Burnham and several Filipino hostages in Zamboanga del Norte. But Gracia's husband, Martin Burnham, and a Filipino nurse was also killed during the rescue mission.
