| AFP fears Abu
attacks on civilians By
Maritess Fernandez, Mindanao News Bureau
ZAMBOANGA
CITY—Military and police authorities have tightened security in Sulu’s capital
town of Jolo on fears that Abu Sayyaf terrorists might strike on civilian targets to
retaliate against the ongoing military offensive in the province.
“We have
received reports that they would resort to bombings and arson to ease the pressure of the
government offensive against them,” provincial police chief Candido Casimiro said.
Casimiro said
reported sightings of Abu Sayyaf bands in the capital town somehow confirm the
intelligence reports on the rebels’ movements.
“The heat is
too much in the upland rebel camps, so they have decided to come down and mix with the
population,” Casimiro added.
He said he has
ordered round-the-clock police patrols in public places, government buildings and public
utility installations in the city.
Meanwhile, Army
soldiers killed one Abu Sayyaf rebel in sporadic fightings in Sulu province, officials
said, as the military and police continue their search for a kidnapped American and a
Filipino in the province.
Regional Army
spokesman Col. Hilario Atendido said security forces clashed with the bandits late Friday
afternoon in the village of Lati in the town of Patikul.
Atendido said a
member of the Muslim extremist group was killed in the clash. The rebels fled when more
government soldiers arrived in the village, he said. “There were no military
casualties.”
The Abu Sayyaf is
still holding captive Jeffrey Schilling and Roland Ullah in the hinterlands of Sulu, a
predominantly Muslim province about 1,000 kms. south of Manila.
MILF ambush
In another
development, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels ambushed a military convoy in
Mindanao and wounded five Army soldiers, including two officers, the Southern Command said
Saturday.
The military said
guerrillas attacked a jeep and a truck with anti-tank rockets late Thursday in the village
of Bagan in Maguindanao’s Talayan town.
“A captain, a
lieutenant and three infantrymen were wounded in the attack,” Atendido said.
He said the
soldiers were on their way to an Army base in Awang town when the rebels ambushed them.
“Troops,
backed by two armored vehicles, were sent to reinforce the soldiers and engaged the rebels
in a five-hour fighting until the MILF forces retreated,” Atendido said.
There were no
reports of casualties on the MILF side, he said.
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