Monday, March 08, 2010

DTN News: Philippines TODAY March 8, 2010 ~ Philippines Troops Kill Seven Militants In Raid

DTN News: Philippines TODAY March 8, 2010 ~ Philippines Troops Kill Seven Militants In Raid Source: DTN News / AFP (NSI News Source Info) ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - March 8, 2010: Philippine marines killed seven Islamist militants early Sunday in a raid on their remote southern island hideout, the military said. One marine was also slightly wounded in the amphibious assault on the island of Laminusa in the Sulu group before dawn, said Brigadier General Rustico Guerrero, commander of a counter-terrorism task force based in the port city of Zamboanga. Philippines troops kill seven militants in raid He told reporters the raid targeted the group of a man who goes by the alias Abu Benhur, whom he described as a member of the Abu Sayyaf group with active ties to Jemaah Islamiyah. "That was his cell," Guerrero said. "But we don't have the identities of the dead yet." He said the raiders were targeting 13 people hiding out in a warren of houses by the seashore that were fortified by bunkers, and it was possible that at least some of the militants escaped. "There were sand bags on the pathways. They were really prepared. We are thankful that only one of us was hit," Guerrero said. Two of the dead suspects are women, said Lieutenant-General Ben Dolorfino, the regional military commander. The Abu Sayyaf is a 400-member group of Islamist militants operating in the remote Sulu group and nearby islands and which has been blamed for most of the country's deadliest terrorist attacks. Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah, which has carried out a series of bombings in Indonesia, are allegedly planning to set up a pan-Islamic caliphate across Southeast Asia. In recent days the military and police have expressed concern over the militants' growing use of roadside bombs in ambushes of security forces in the south.

No comments: