JOLO ISLAND, 2 July 2007 — Philippine and US troops began new offensive against local and foreign militants on the troubled ssouthern island of Jolo, officials said yesterday.
Hundreds of troops, backed by armored personnel carriers, were spotted heading to areas where Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah militants are believed to be hiding.
Villagers reported seeing on Saturday heavily armed US soldiers with Filipino troops in armored vehicles, but Philippine and US officials said the American soldiers are their only to advise their local counterparts and provide intelligence.
Foreign troops are not allowed by Philippine law to participate in combat operations in the country.
Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, chief of the Philippines’ Western Mindanao Command, said the new campaign codenamed Oplan: Ultimatum II is aimed at capturing leaders of the Abu Sayyaf and JI militants, notably Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who are being hunted by Indonesian authorities for the deadly Bali island bombings in 2002. More than 200 people, mostly foreigners, were killed in the bombings.
Cedo said the new campaign is a follow-up of Ultimatum I, in which troops had killed Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani and his top lieutenant, Sainal Jali, alias Abu Solaiman, last year. Cedo said troops will also embark on a massive humanitarian mission on Jolo and nearby islands 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.”
Cedo said the military will coordinate with the island’s new governor, Sakur Tan, in the campaign to rid Jolo of “terrorists.”
Tan is one of few government officials in Jolo island who has publicly condemned the atrocities the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for ransom kidnappings and assassinations in the southern Philippines.
He said he would ask for a security briefing with the Philippine military. “I need to be briefed about the operation against the terrorists. We don’t want terrorists in our place,” he told reporters.
He said he would also hold a meeting with US security officials about the presence of American troops and their role in the war and Washington’s humanitarian efforts on the island.
Both the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiyah are included in the US terror list and Washington offered as much as ten million dollars for the capture of Dulmatin and five million dollars bounty for known local terror leaders.
US forces have boasted of their campaign in the southern Philippines as a showcase of a successful campaign to “win the hearts and minds” of Muslim residents away from Islamists.
The US government has poured in tens of millions of dollars worth of development assistance to the provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi in a bid to defeat the Al-Qaeda-linked militants.
