SAYYAP
MANILA, MARCH 25, 2012 (PHILSTAR) (PHOTO - In this Feb. 2,
2012 file photo, Philippine National Police Special Action Forces examine the
site on the island province of Jolo in southern Philippines where three most
wanted leaders of the al-Qaida-linked terrorist groups Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah
Islamiyah were killed in a U.S.-backed dawn airstrike in Jolo, Philippines. The
two aging Philippine air force planes unleashed a surprise high-tech weapon:
U.S. satellite-guided bombs in the attack. AP)
(AP) — Concealed by the night sky, the two aging Philippine air force planes
unleashed a surprise high-tech weapon: U.S. satellite-guided bombs that whizzed
down with deadly precision toward a long-elusive terrorist suspect and two other
top radicals dozing with their men in Jolo Island's jungle.
The use of smart bombs, confirmed to The Associated Press by four senior
Philippine security officials, marks a new chapter in the long-running battle
against an al-Qaida-linked movement in the southern Philippines, viewed by the
U.S. as a key front in the global effort to keep terrorists at bay.
Successive blasts shattered a hillside rebel encampment of Abu Sayyaf, which
remains one of Southeast Asia's most violent groups despite a decade of battle
losses. The Vietnam War-era turboprops roared away after delivering a bull's-eye
hit near mountainous Parang town around 3 a.m. on Feb. 2.
Thermal imaging from a U.S. drone, described by two of the senior officials,
depicted the aftermath: Several slain gunmen lay amid a clutter of destroyed
trees, huts and tents, while survivors pulled away the dead and wounded in the
pitch darkness.
Although it remains unclear whether all three of the most-wanted terrorists
were killed, the introduction of smart bombs reflects shifting battlefields and
strategies.
The U.S. has been assisting the Philippine military since shortly after the
Sept. 11 attacks, providing advice, training, and intelligence, including drone
surveillance, but the smart bombs are the first major high-tech hardware
supplied to the Philippines.
They offer a less manpower-intensive way to combat Abu Sayyaf at a time when
both the Philippines and the U.S. militaries want to focus resources on tensions
with China in the South China Sea. They also dovetail with a change in recent
years from massive offensives to surgical, intelligence-driven strikes that
target holdouts of the battered Abu Sayyaf.
The four senior officials said the strike on the Abu Sayyaf lair employed
GPS-guided bombs, a previously unavailable technology acquired from the United
States under a confidential military assistance project. They spoke on condition
of anonymity because they aren't authorized to discuss those details with the
media.
A Philippine military document detailing the project, a copy of which was
seen by the AP, said that U.S. defense contractor Raytheon Co. was to deliver 22
kits last year to convert conventional bombs into precision-guided munitions
that could be launched from the OV-10 turboprop. Accompanying that was crew
training, equipment upgrades to allow the OV-10s to deploy the bombs and two
test runs.
A military spokesman, Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos, said the Armed Forces of
the Philippines "neither confirms nor denies the existence of such munitions
citing operational security reasons. However, its pilots have been training
vigorously to further improve their proficiency particularly in the precise
delivery of munitions to its identified target."
Many Western, Middle Eastern and Asian countries have acquired smart bombs
since they were first widely used by the U.S.-led coalition in the 1990-91 Gulf
War. They have guidance kits and fins and use the U.S. GPS satellite system,
laser and other technologies to zero in on targets.
Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin praised "the carefully planned
precision attack" in a statement days after the strike. The well-planned
assault, he said, avoided the military casualties often incurred in ground
raids.
Gazmin would not respond to questions about the new bombs in an interview
with The AP last week, but he said that technology from the Americans has given
the military lifesaving skills such as enabling pilots to fly at night. Training
with U.S. forces has focused on ways to avoid harming noncombatants and wasting
resources, he said, citing last month's airstrike.
"We were able to trace that they were all together at a certain time so that
was the time to hit," Gazmin said. "So we took off early morning and bombed
them, delivering four bombs. We were successful."
The Philippine military announced that a top Malaysian terrorist suspect,
Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, was among the dead, along with
Singaporean martial arts instructor Muhamda Ali — whose rebel name is Muawiyah —
and Abu Sayyaf commander Gumbahali Umbra Jumdail.
But doubts have arisen about the fates of the two foreign terrorists, and two
government reports seen by the AP contend that Marwan and Muawiyah survived the
airstrike with minor wounds after they heard the buzz of the OV-10s and fled.
Between nine to 15 militants were killed in the barrage but others quickly
dragged away the dead, making it difficult to confirm who was killed, according
to military officials.
Marwan is on the FBI list of most-wanted terrorists and has a $5 million
bounty on his head. Jumdail had been a key target because he sheltered foreign
radicals such as Marwan and Muawiyah and has been blamed for deadly bombings and
kidnappings.
The military presumes they are dead until an investigation shows otherwise,
spokesman Burgos said, though he added that huge cash rewards for informants who
helped find the militants have been put on hold.
The airstrike shook the militants, according to the government reports. The
precision of the attack, and that it came in the dark, told them that they were
being targeted by more advanced technology. It also indicated there were
government spies in their ranks and reinforced fears that harboring foreign
fugitives would make them magnets for attack.
"They have become very wary of things and equipment that are being brought
into their camp, suspecting these were laden with beacons that can be used to
track them," Gazmin said.
Marwan and Muawiyah were lying low with gunmen in a Jolo mountain stronghold,
the government reports said, but the Abu Sayyaf commander in the area, Radulan
Sahiron, ordered them out.
Sahiron, who is in his 70s and the group's most senior commander, has long
been wary of outsiders — unlike Jumdail, who also had been treating ill
villagers as a quack doctor, providing a window for government surveillance.
The Abu Sayyaf — or Bearer of the Sword — was founded in 1991 on southern
Basilan Island. With an unwieldy collective of preachers and outlaws, it vowed
to wage jihad, or holy war, but lost its key leaders early in combat, sending it
on a violent path of extremism and criminality.
Today, it has degenerated into a few loose factions with 381 ragtag fighters
and no central leader. But the group remains resilient and is more violent, a
military assessment said, citing 74 atrocities committed last year, including 17
kidnappings, 16 bombings and 14 killings and ambushes — far more than each of
the five previous years.
Still its setbacks are reflected in a poster of the most-wanted terrorists
printed nearly 10 years ago by the U.S. and Philippine governments. Of the 24
portraits, 19 have been killed or captured. The deaths of two — Marwan and
Jumdail — are unconfirmed. Only three others remain at large.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved
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HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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