Offensives Against the Abu Sayyaf and JI in the Philippines: Reports of MILF Ties to JI Persist
By Zachary Abuza
AFP announced that it had captured an Abu Sayyaf bomb factory in bud Kapun in Indanan town, Jolo. In retaliation the ASG assassinated two policemen. A Philippine military spokesman claimed that they had recovered a “huge cache of high-grade explosives” used by the ASG as well as members of JI.
Police implicated JI in a two bomb attacks in Cotabato and Kidapawan, North Cotabato, Mindanao on 10 August 2006, which killed one and left four others wounded.
Two police were killed in a shootout with suspected terrorists in Pikit, North Cotabato. They were searching for Zulkifli bin Hir (aka Marwan), one of the toip JI leaders in Mindanao and one other JI member, “Omar.”
Interestingly, the MILF claimed on their website that the police had “attacked an MILF position,” and that MILF troops were involved in the shootout with the police, and that they turned over the bodies of the slain officers. Their report, carried on the MILF website, www.luwaran.com, made no mention of the alleged presence of JI suspects. The MILF spokesman, Eid Kabalu said, “The name Marwan has never been heard in the area before this incident. We do not keep JIs or any terrorist group in our camps.”
The GRP-MILF ceasefire came under renewed strain this past week when the two sides exchanged mortar fire, leaving 6 dead.
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