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...

[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...

[jedi]

haaay, nakakalungkot na pangyayari

[funkngruvn]

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

[Altis6453]

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

[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

[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.

[XTO]

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...

This is totally true. During the campaign against the MILF in 2000, hundreds of our enlisted men (most of them marines and army’s elite special forces and scout rangers) and less than a dozen junior officers gave their lives for this cause. Even MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu went into hiding during those time Camp Abubakar was overrun.

But now, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu even giving warning to our troops not to close in to their territory. Sa ibang bansa, ang gobyerno ang nagbibigay ng warning sa tulisan.

Hmmm.. Lalo tuloy tumitibay ang agam agam na kasabwat ang ating gobyerno ng mga bandido na yan. Isa rin kaya ito kung bakit napatalsik si dating pangulong Estrada? Sapagka’t kung tuluyang malilipol ang mga yaon ay magiging matahimik na ng kaunti sa Mindanao – meaning walang magiging trabaho an gating mga kawal.

[mhelskie]

^+1

matagal na ang giyera sa mindanao, maraming apektado sa magkabilang kampo, pero ang pinaka apektado e ung mga naninirahan dun, mga biktima ng giyera...tama kayo, c Erap malakas ang loob lumaban sa mga tulisan which I think is right. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang ginagawa ng govt natin ngayon bakit d nila gawin ulit yon, puro negotiations ang nangyayari...pero wala nmang naa achieve, kase parehong may corrupt sa magkabilang kampo...

[Flagg]

Simple economics lang po yan.

If there's no enemy, then there won't be no Trump Plaza condo for generals like the honorable Gen. what's-his-name (Garcia ba? Yung nahuli na comptroller).

To understand them, you have to think like them. Experienced killer mga ito... what are a few dead soldiers to them kung kikita naman sila?

[maverickjazzy]

huwag naman po agad tayo mag-aaccuse without showing any evidence. madali lang sabihin na ibinebenta o ipinapahamak ng mga general, colonels, majors, captains at govt officials ang ating mga sundalo para sa konting barya.

don't get me wrong, im an army brat and literally grew up inside a military camp. and i held in the highest regard the phil. marines way over the navy seals, army rangers and army special forces(airborne). but it is wrong to make any accusations without substantiating it.

regarding the camp abubakar and other milf camps that were overrun by our brave marines and soldiers that were literally handed back to those murderous MILFs, it was a political decision by the govt that was dictated by the prevailing condition of the time. due to the govt's desire to pursue a lasting peace with the fu**ing MILFs, they followed the condition set by the peace process/negotiation for our military to vacate these captured camps. unfortunately, it laid to waste the sacrifices made by our brave marines and soldiers.

Ang mga MILF po katulad ng MNLF ay mga supporter din ng abu sayyaf, in short traydor ang mga ito. pag may engkwentro between abu sayyaf and the military sa lugar na malakas ang forces nila, tinutulungan ng mga MILF ang mga abu sayyaf tapos sasabihin na ang kalaban ng mga military ay MILF na kaya binakbakan ang mga militar ay dahil pumasok sila sa teritoryo nila. ganyan ang lagi nilang alibi. marami pong MILF at MNLF na member din ng abu sayyaf, kaya dapat lahat ng mga ito ay ubusin.

[Syuryuken]

Dapat yung dalawang general ang iharap sa mga bandidong yan para matingnan kung may ibubuga kesa dakdak ng dakdak.