Philippines Jihad Update. "Philippine fighting kills over 50, more clashes," from Reuters:
MANILA - The Philippine military will step up offensives against Muslim rebels after it lost 26 soldiers in the heaviest fighting in the volatile south in nearly three years, the head of the armed forces said on Friday.
General Hermogenes Esperon said two extra battalions would be sent to the remote southern island of Jolo, where clashes between troops and Muslim separatists killed at least 58 people on Thursday.
"I’m very sad but it doesn’t mean we will give up," Esperon told reporters. "We will not stop, we will go after them. We expect fiercer battles."
The army shelled Muslim rebel positions and raked them with helicopter fire overnight but suspended operations on Friday following a request from the provincial governor.
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim rebel group that signed a peace deal with the largely Catholic central government in 1996, said its members were involved and that it had asked the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to help stop the fighting.
"We informed the OIC of the current situation through e-mails and a fax direct to Jeddah," said Hatimil Hassan, the MNLF deputy head and an elected member of the regional legislative assembly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Fighting has been confined to a small part of the island of Jolo but there were dangers that it could spill over to nearby areas and other rebel groups could take advantage of the situation, Hassan told reporters.
The military said the rebels were from Abu Sayyaf but the less radical MNLF said its cadres were involved. Unlike Abu Sayyaf, the more secular MNLF has no known links to regional Islamic militant network Jemaah Islamiah.
Most MNLF leaders joined the government after the group signed the 1996 peace deal, which was brokered by the OIC.
Local officials said Jolo had been tense because the military had begun collecting unlicensed firearms from villagers as a part of a wider drive in the Mindanao region. The Tausug tribe that dominates the local population on Jolo prizes weapons.
Discontent has also been simmering among MNLF cadres because the government wants to sign a deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s largest Muslim secessionist group. The MNLF says the government should first fulfil obligations due to it from the 1996 agreement.
Ambush
The fighting started on Thursday when gunmen ambushed a group of soldiers on their way to a market in Maimbung town to buy food, local military commander Major-General Ruben Rafael said. Ten soldiers were killed and one was wounded.
In gunbattles later in the day, at least 16 soldiers were killed, said Major Eugene Batara, a spokesman in Zamboanga city. At least 31 rebels were killed and 25 wounded, he said. One boy was killed in crossfire.
[...]
The army has said about 100 rebels from the Abu Sayyaf and a rogue faction of the MNLF were believed to be involved in the latest fighting.
Due to family ties on Jolo, there are close links between the Abu Sayyaf, MNLF and MILF and sometimes an overlap in membership.
The islands of the southern Philippines, especially Jolo and nearby Basilan, are hotbeds of extremism. They are also home to pirate gangs that prey on shipping in the South China Sea.
Call Monsanto...
I'm sure they have plenty of leftover agent orange.
It's brutally effective on jungles and hidden durkanese.
*WEG*
(ok, ok, I know...*slap* on wrist...BAD guest!)
"The army shelled Muslim rebel positions and raked them with helicopter fire overnight but suspended operations on Friday following a request from the provincial governor."
....Tell the governor to go pound sand in his arse...you have terrorists to deal with....
...I suspect the governor is a Muslim (maybe his buddies were on the business end of the helicoptor mini guns).....
The struggle to defend this chain of Philippine Islands that runs down to Indonesia, and Malaysia, the worlds largest populated countries of Muslims,is a never ending and daunting task for the Philippino Government. The dense forests of these islands offer non-stop cover for these Militant Islamic organizations who will always be determined to turn these places into Islamic bastions. Something they have of course been doing for well over 1,300 years.The challenge is a bit different than having an army of militant Muslims trying to take over; say Montana. If only the international community was able somehow effectively cut off their sources and supplies of weapons, as well as financial resources.
Islam appeals to the basest of subhuman motives (tyranny, rape, slavery, plundering, pillaging, polygamy, etc.), so it will always find willing patriarchal terroristic types to recruit into its bloodthirsty despotic deathcult.
It is the "religion" for those who do not want to love, or forgive.
Which is the root animal that we rose from.
It is very clear that the jihadist 'rebels' are reacting to US policy.
It's the US policy in Iraq that causes these various Philippino muslim terrorists to act up, commit atrocities and fight with the Philippine Gov.
If the US would only quit attacking muslims, the terrorists factions would lay down their arms and go back to peacefull farming, and being normal moms and dads. The evil US is causing a lack of normal parenting, and farming, in the Ummah, not just in the Philippines, but everywhere jihadis exist.
If the US would just get off muslim soils, the terrorists would be free to organise soccer games, increase falafel and pistacio nut production,
and be a father to their many children. Those kids need their dads. And dont forget, 'a farmer is a man outstanding in his field', the perfect place for a former jihadi, the sword into plowshares, all over again. But first the US has to yield to Islamic demands everywhere, or all mr nice guy deals from jihadis are off. Change your policys George Bush, and let these dads go home to their kids. Get out of Iraq now...it's for the children...
Your analysis is true but most of your commenters are nuts, and know nothing about the Philippines.
Even 50 years ago, if the Moros on Sulu didn't like you, you'd be killed. But if they knew you were a friend, you would be accepted.
What is going on is twofold.
One: An increase in "carrot/stick" against the Moros, with the bad guys being killed and a lot of good help to the average Jo. This strategy decreases the "power" of both the "militants" and the feudal clan leaders who want to run things so they can get rich.
Two: Resentment against the influx of Christians who are the middle class of the towns and run the businesses. It's easier to preach hatred than say get educated and beat them at their own game, especially since education is government, and again educated people might not bow down to bullies who steal everything in sight.
It's not really "religious" and has nothing to do with Iraq.
In non Muslim areas, the same social pressures are feuling the NPA (Communists).
"Dresden" Jolo
why can't the "leaders" of the Moral and Free World understand and implement this simple and easy answer ?
turn these islamic shi+holes into a festering and burning pile of death
do it now before the muslim monsters take over and decimate the Civilized World . . . .
do it now, dammit; my future children are counting on it ... I need action, I need results.
PLAN - - - - - OPERATION "Dresden" Jolo - - - - -
why can't the "leaders" of the Moral and Free World understand and implement this simple and easy answer ?
turn these islamic shi+holes into festering and burning piles of death
do it now before the muslim monsters take over and decimate the Civilized World . . . .
do it now, dammit; my future children are counting on it ...
Where's the Action ? Where are the Results ??
DID I POST TWICE ?
/oops