Bombs rain on Abu rebels' lair
JOLO (AFP) -- The military
unleashed yesterday a torrent of bombs and artillery fire on the mountain lair of Muslim
rebels holding 17 hostages on southern Jolo island, officials said.
Maj. Gen. Narciso Abaya, ground
commander of the massive assault against the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers, said he had dispatched
two OV10 Bronco bombers and attack helicopters to support foot soldiers closing in on the
Mount Dahu hideout.
The early morning thunder of
helicopter gunships and planes frightened many villagers who fled into the capital town of
Jolo, witnesses said. Bursts of machine gun and artillery fire could also be heard.
Infantrymen clashed with about
30 Abu Sayyaf fighters on Mount Dahu on Saturday, leaving three rebels dead and a soldier
wounded.
Armed forces spokesman Brig.
Gen. Generoso Senga had said troops were encircling the area and had tightened security
around Patikul and Talipao towns to stop rebels from fleeing to coastal areas.
"We have narrowed the
general area where the rebels are believed to be hiding," Senga told AFP in a
telephone interview. "The area is also being cleared by troops."
Troop presence was also heavy
in several undisclosed hinterland villages, he added.
The battle, which erupted late
afternoon and lasted into the evening, brought the total number of Abu Sayyaf rebels
killed to 114 since the government launched its rescue operation on Sept. 16.
A senior Abu Sayyaf leader,
Radulan Sahiron, had earlier been reported killed while regional commanders Mujib Susukan
and Galib Andang alias "Commander Robot," were said to have been wounded.
Military intelligence agents
had been trying to verify the death claim but had so far been unable to confirm it. The
military has admitted that four soldiers and three civilians had also been killed.
Abaya said the rebels had
broken up into smaller groups, with some reportedly returning to their homes and hiding
their arms to evade troops.
He said there was no indication
the group encountered in the mountain were dragging hostages as they dodged government
artillery fire.
The gunmen were believed to be
members of an Abu Sayyaf faction, led by Susukan, and holding 12 Filipino hostages.
Up to three other rebel
factions, elsewhere in Jolo, hold three Malaysians, an American, and one other Filipino.
Civilians
The number of civilians
displaced by a military offensive against a band of Muslim gunmen holding 17 hostages in
the southern Philippines has risen to 88,805, the military said Sunday.
As fighting entered its third
week and troops continued their ground and air assault against the Abu Sayyaf in at least
five municipalities on the island of Jolo, thousands of villagers packed schools converted
into evacuation centers in deplorable conditions, health workers said.
Maj. Gen. Narciso Abaya, who
commands the 4,000-strong force involved in the operation, said relief operations to
assist the evacuees were ongoing.
"It's not yet time to
declare a state of calamity in Jolo," Abaya told reporters here despite earlier
complaints by volunteers that food and medicine supplies were dwindling fast.
Mindanao bill
Twenty one Mindanao solons in
the Lower House have jointly introduced House Bill 12362 otherwise known as the
"Mindanao Development Incentives Act" (MIDA) which mandates the grant of
agro-industrial investment incentives to accelerate the economic development of their
region.
Butuan City Rep. Leovigildo
Banaag, acting chair of the House special committee on Mindanao affairs, the bill's main
author, said there is need to expedite the rehabilitation and development of Mindanao
given the lack of development in certain areas as well as the "debilitating
effects" of the current conflict.
He explained that the public
sector's lack of sufficient funds for Mindanao total development and rehabilitation was
compounded by recent hostilities. "There is, therefore, a crucial need to attract
investors in the region through a package of incentives that will set in motion the
apparatus for the full development of Mindanao in the long term."
Banaag said that the measure is
actually a sequel to HB 11833 (Special Powers Bill) they earlier introduced which provides
interim special powers to the President to confront the emergency situation in Mindanao
and fasttrack development efforts in the region. The new bill basically provides the
following incentives and powers, among others, to attain the above-cited objective. (Edgar
J. Tamayo)
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