9 SOLDIERS WOUNDED IN ABU SAYYAF CLASH
ZAMBOANGA CITY: Abu
Sayyaf Group (ASG) rebels ambushed a group of elite army soldiers sent to hunt
down the pro-Islamic State group in Sulu. The weekend fighting erupted in a
hinterland village near the town of Parang, where members of the Scout Rangers
had been deployed. More than a dozen rebels opened fire on the soldiers,
sparking fierce clashes.
The military’s Western
Mindanao Command did not release any report on the fighting, but President
Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly ordered security forces to finish off the ASG. Defense
Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also ordered the military during a meeting here, to
put an end to the ASG’s terror activities. “We need to do it now,” he said.
Lorenzana also called
on local officials to help fight Islamic extremism as he met last month with
the governors of the Muslim autonomous region, led by Chief Minister Ahod
Ebrahim, at the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division in Datu Odin Sinsuat
town in Maguindanao province. Sulu Governor Sakur Tan said the provincial
government and all 19 municipal mayors were all out in their support of the
campaign against the ASG that is blamed for the twin suicide bombings in January
of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, which left dozens of casualties,
and for two suicide attacks on an army base in Indanan town that killed eight
people and wounded over two dozens.
Ebrahim said they were
addressing the security situation in the Muslim region, especially in Sulu and
Basilan, where the ASG is actively operating. Tan appealed to the regional and
national governments to help in local efforts to address poverty in Sulu, which
he said is a magnet for violent Islamic extremism. The military confirmed that
one of two bombers in Indanan town was Norman Lacusa, a member of the ASG.
Wilfred Nasol,
regional director of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency in the Muslim
autonomous region, also briefed those in the meeting about the 50-year old
communist insurgency problems, and pro-IS groups and terrorists operating in
the country, their propaganda campaigns. Nasol also outlined the government’s
response to these threats, especially addressing Islamic extremism and adapting
the so-called National Peace Framework.
He was referring to
President Duterte’s Executive Order. 70, which he signed in December last year
establishing a “whole-of-nation approach” in ending communist armed conflict
through the creation of a national task force that will take the lead in
institutionalizing a national peace framework to attain inclusive and
sustainable peace through various initiatives. The whole-of-nation approach is
essential for this peace framework to work and benefit the people of Mindanao,
Nasol said.
Sumber: The Manila Times – 6 August
2019
By: AL JACINTO
"Bersama Menentang Ekstremis!"
IKUTI
KAMI 👇
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