Gadamn! Abu Sayyaf bandits behead 4 Marines

[theveed]

(UPDATE 2) Abu Sayyaf bandits behead 4 Marines


By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 10:59am (Mla time) 07/11/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- Islamic militants killed eight Philippine marines searching for a kidnapped Italian priest during a major gunbattle, and later beheaded four of them, the military said Wednesday.

The troops were ambushed on the southern island of Basilan by a joint force from the Philippines' main Islamic rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, said Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Caculitan, a spokesman for the Marines.

Caculitan said nine marines were injured and six other soldiers were still missing after the eight-hour clash with around 300 rebels near the town of Tipo-Tipo.

He said troops were checking reports that Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi, 57, had been spotted with his kidnappers in the region.

The four beheaded Marines were found in Ginatan village, Tipo-Tipo, near the site of the firefight, said Caculitan.

Caculitan accused the Abu Sayyaf of committing this “barbaric” act, saying, “Whenever they have the chance, they will decapitate their victims."

He could not confirm whether the bandits were holding the six other Marines, Caculitan said.

"Our effort is to find the missing and hunt down the bandits," Caculitan said, adding Major General Nelson Allaga, Marine Corps commandant, was "monitoring" the Basilan operations.

Caculitan said there was no immediate order to augment the troops in Basilan and that Allaga was leaving it up to the commander of the 1st Marine Brigade in the area, Colonel Ramiro Alivio, to handle the situation.

"Everything is delegated to the commander on the ground [Alivio]," Caculitan said.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu acknowledged the group's fighters had a firefight with the military, but denied that Abu Sayyaf militants were involved and accused the troops of violating a ceasefire by entering an MILF area.

"The firefight was touched off because they entered our area without first coordinating with the MILF leadership as agreed upon in the peace talks," Kabalu told Agence France-Presse by phone from his base in the southern Philippines.

"This is their fault because they intruded into our territory and our forces were alarmed and had to defend their positions," he said.

The provocation, he said, was a clear violation of a 2003 truce and would be brought up to a joint monitoring committee.

The encounter between about 50 Marines and some 300 Abu Sayyaf members erupted at around 10 a.m. Tuesday and stretched until 7 p.m. of the same day.

The troops were on their way back to base after acting on a reported sighting of Bossi, reportedly being held by the Abu Sayyaf in the area.

Bossi, of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), was kidnapped last June 10 in Payao town, Zamboanga Sibugay province, where he had served as parish priest. He is the third Italian clergyman to be kidnapped in the south since the 1990s.

The government had said that the priest’s kidnappers could either be Abu Sayyaf men or renegade members of the MILF.

The MILF has denied any involvement in the abduction and initially helped in the hunt for Bossi's captors.

"The MILF is not involved in the Bossi kidnapping. This we say loud and clear," Kabalu said.

The 12,000-strong MILF is the country's main separatist rebel group and is currently engaged in peace talks with the government in Manila.

The Abu Sayyaf is an Al Qaeda-linked group of self-styled Islamic fighters blamed for the country's worst terrorist attacks and many kidnappings.

The Roman Catholic news agency Asianews, the mouthpiece of The Vatican, said Tuesday it doubted that Abu Sayyaf militants were involved in the kidnapping. It said it was more likely he was being held by a criminal gang.

[boybi]

Sabi sa interview kanina sa radio, hindi naman daw na beheaded literally, napuruhan daw ng bala yung mga ulo. And hindi pa rin daw confirmed na Abu Sayyaf talaga ang umatake.

[mazdamazda]

Oh my... that's really barbaric...

I hope that our troops finish them off...

[docpete]

muslim ang mga yan...kamkampi sa kapwa muslin kung kristiyano ang kalaban..kahit kaaway pa niya yon..kaya kahit panoon hirap hulin ang abu sayaf dahil tinatago rin ng milf yan..kawawa lang sundalo natin

[artpogi]

tit-for-tat

whether beheaded or not, it's not surprising.

that's been happening since the Mindanao war erupted in the 70's.

Sabi nga ng kakilala ko na Mindanao war veteran, kapag nakahuli ng sundalo ang Moro kawawa ang sundalo, kapag nakahuli ng Moro ang sundalo, kawawa ang Moro.

so tit for tat

[Zeus]

Traydor talaga mga MILF na yan e, siguradong kasabwat yan sa pagdukot kay Bossi.

[BlueBimmer]

bakit di pa kasi ubusin ang MILF at abu sayyaf...

[awing]

bakit di pa kasi ubusin ang MILF at abu sayyaf...

+1

kung meron 12,000 members yung MILF plus Abu Sayyaf Group, ilan ba yung AFP natin? may mga Marines pa. Through this case of Father Bossi's kidnapping ay mahirap iresolba, paano na kayo kung mass kidnappings ang gagawin nila.


GOD help the Filipino People..

[Hanren]

Hulihin na lang nila ng buhay ang mga abu na yan..

then give them a dose of their own medicine .. behead them in public...

[Syuryuken]

Ubusin na lahat mga yan.

[BLINGBLING]

dito ko nami-miss si pareng Erap(but only on this aspect)....it was during his time that the MILF Camp was overrun by our soldiers..bakit kasi hinayaan pang naibalik sa kanila yung kampo nila/their military might in the affected areas...i don't really get it why our government is too cautious when dealing with them..kahit pa sabihing, mga sumbungero sa OIC yung mga rebeldeng yan..di naman sila kakampihan ng foreign authorities kung naipapakita lang na our situation is unlike East Timor's...

[rsnald]

what caught my attention dun sa news report is this, 50 marines against 300 bandits?? wow, that's a 1 to 6 fighting ratio. bilib talga ako sa mga marines natin. to the families of the fallen marines, I salute them for their bravery and sense of duty to country. they did not die in vain, and they lived up to the marines' motto, the few, the proud, the brave PHILIPPINE MARINES.

[funkngruvn]

Pu3 namn o! bakit di pa kasi tinapos mga asg na yan, ngayon lumalakas nanaman sila..

[VtEC]

Just an update:

At least 14 soldiers of the Philippine Marines were killed, 10 of whom were beheaded, while several others were wounded in the latest skirmishes between government troops and heavily armed Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Tipo-tipo, Basilan, yesterday, military officials said.

[chua_riwap]

A footage from GMA's Saksi showed the actual encounter between the Marines and the MILF in Tipo-tipo. A GMA crew was with them during the operations. On that encounter, since the Marines were being outnumbered (yung mga MILF daw is about 500?), they decided to launch several mortar rounds. However, yung ilang rounds, hindi pumutok (dud). Kitang-kita sa footage na, ilang beses nilang sinubok na palitan, pero "bugok" pa rin yung ilang rounds na ibinala. Wawa naman mga Marines natin.

Two choppers joined and tried to augment firepower, pero wala ring nagawa. In fact, gumaganti din ng mortar fire yung mga rebelde.

[ozcity]

bakit kasi hindi pa palubugin yang basilan...ng maubos na.....ano ba naman yung isang maliit na isla ang mabubura...

[jedi]

haaay, nakakalungkot na pangyayari

[Altis6453]

RIP to our brave marines. They always protect their own and they'll get after these abus sooner than later.