ZAMBOANGA CITY, 29 June 2007 — The military is set to launch another offensive against militants linked to the Abu Sayyaf group and its Southeast Asian franchise, Jemaah Islamiyah, in the southern Philippine island of Jolo.

Codenamed Ultimatum II, the anti-terror operation will begin tomorrow, said Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command.

“This operation will be in close coordination with local government officials headed by the new governor,” he told Arab News.

Cedo was referring to the new governor of Sulu province, Sakur Tan, who has publicly condemned the atrocities of the Abu Sayyaf.

In Ultimatum I, the Philippine military offensive killed chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and his deputy, Jainal Antel Sali, alias Abu Solaiman and many of their fighters.

Cedo said the targets of the new offensive are the new leaders of the Abu Sayyaf as well as the remnant of the old leadership, Radulan Sahiron. Also in the troops’ sight are Indonesian nationals Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both tagged by Jakarta in the deadly 2002 Bali bombings.

Dulmatin and Patek were reportedly in Jolo training local militants in terror warfare, including their expertise — demolition.

Hundreds of US troops are also deployed in Jolo Island, supposedly on the request of the Philippine government, to help the local military defeat terrorism.

Cedo announce the new offensive a day after Adm. Timothy Keating, the US Pacific commander, made a surprise visit to Jolo island and inspected a captured rebel mountain base in Patikul town.

The base was previously used by Janjalani, who was mortally wounded at Tugas Hill in a battle with US-backed Filipino troops in September 2006.

Janjalani was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Americans in the Philippines, officials said.

“Until last year, Tugas Hill was the traditional lair for the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group,” said Maj. Gen. Ruben Raphael, the island’s army commander. “For years, our soldiers have had encounters with Abu Sayyaf until we gained control of their camp and made it our own.”

Now Tugas Hill is home to the 5th Marine Company. It is used as a jungle training camp and as a base to launch combat patrols against remnants of terrorist organizations still operating on Jolo.

Philippine military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. had said the death of Janjalani lessened the magnitude of terrorism in the Philippines.

Humanitarian Mission

Cedo said troops will also mount a massive humanitarian mission in Sulu province in an effort to win the hearts and minds of the locals.

“The operation is not only about fighting the terrorists. This is also a fight to win the hearts and minds of the civilians,” he said. “We want to transform Sulu into a place where everybody can live peacefully and with out fear.”

Esperon and Keating also signed on Wednesday a new security accord that paves the way for new joint anti-terror training in the next five years. But Keating said the US goal is to help the Philippines defeat militants, particularly the Jemaah Islamiyah.

Esperon said the Philippines and Australia will also hold a joint military training.

“We expect that there will be an expansion from bilateral activities to multilateral. Where it is legally permissible, we will do it as addressing security threats could not be limited to arrangements,” he said. “We see a lot of multilateral activities, trainings, exchange of information and we don’t see any reason why we could not go to that direction.”

Both the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiyah are included in the US terror list and Washington offered as much as $10 million for the capture of Dulmatin and $5 million for Sahiron and other known local terror leaders.

Manila also set side a total of 100 million pesos in reward money for the capture of known Abu Sayyaf leader.