Hi, mga peeps. Bagong report about another clash down South.

43 Philippine soldiers, militants killed in clash] 43 Philippine soldiers, militants killed in clash

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) - – At least 23 government soldiers and more than 20 Muslim extremists were killed in a day-long clash in the southern Philippines, the commanding general said on Thursday.

The bodies of the 23 soldiers and 20 Abu Sayyaf rebels were recovered after fierce fighting Wednesday in the town of Ungkaya Pukan in the southern island of Basilan, said regional commander Major General Benjamin Dolorfino.

The fighting broke out as the military overran an Abu Sayyaf camp and found numerous home-made bombs, ready for detonation. They also recovered 13 high-powered firearms, the general said.

At least four wounded soldiers were seen being flown in by helicopter to the southern city of Zamboanga.

Soldiers who brought the dead bodies back to Zamboanga City said many of their slain comrades had apparently been hit by sniper fire.

Fighting has ceased but troops are still clearing the area to ensure no insurgents remain, Dolorfino said.

Soldiers are also still pursuing other Abu Sayyaf members, he added.

Intelligence agencies have said the Al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden helped in the formation of the Abu Sayyaf group more than a decade ago.

The group has carried out bombings and mass kidnappings in the south, mostly targeting Christians and foreigners. It has raised money by ransoming hostages but has also killed some when they were not paid promptly.

While the Philippine military has killed and captured many Abu Sayyaf leaders -- partly with US assistance -- the extremists remained active and in January they held three international Red Cross workers hostage for several months.

Two hostages were freed in April while the last hostage, Italian Eugenio Vagni was released on July 12 after nearly six months in captivity.

Ano kayang magandang counter-sniper idea na pwede magamit agad ng troops natin?

Damn! :armycry:
This fight must be a hard one for the marines to lose this many.
RIP to the fallen.
Thank you for your ultimate sacrifice.
Prayers to the families.
:salute:

City Hunter;


Kabayan, i had to change the title to make it more appropriate.

‘Abu Sayyaf knew we were coming’—soldier

Enemy came in waves, swarmed gov’t troops
By Julie Alipala
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 18:27:00 08/13/2009

Filed Under: Military, The Southern Campaign, Armed conflict

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—They arrived before the sun came out. And the gunbattle continued even when the sun was already down.

When the day was over, 23 soldiers, two of them officers, lay dead and 22 others were wounded.

"It was the most difficult and the most exhausting firefight I had ever encountered in my whole life," 25-year old Private First Class Joel Alano, a member of elite unit Light Reaction Company, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview in his hospital bed at the Don Navarro Memorial Hospital inside the Western Mindanao Command headquarters here.

Alano, a native of La Union, Nueva Ecija, was hit by shrapnel on his back.

"Buong araw hanggang gabi, walang tigil sa bakbakan. Halos gutom at nanghihina na kami, tapos ang reinforcement namin nadale pa (The fighting went on from dawn to dusk. We were hungry and exhausted and then our reinforcement got hit)," he said in between heavy breathing.

Alano said their mission in Tipo-tipo town in Basilan was clear: Neutralize the Abu Sayyaf Group under Puruji Indama.

But as the fighting dragged on, Alano said, the enemy seemed to have increased in number.

"Habang tumatagal ang bakbakan, mas dumarami po ang mga kalaban. Una parang singkwenta lang silang lahat, bago magdilim umabot na sila ng mahigit dalawang daan (As the fighting wore on, they increased in number. At first, there were about 50, but before nighttime, they increased to over 200)," he said.

Private First Class Randy Liboon of the 4th Scout Ranger Company said they were the first to arrive in the target area -- an Abu Sayyaf camp in Sitio Kurrelem in the village of Silangkom -- shortly 4 a.m. on August 12.

"Akala namin konti lang ang kalaban namin-- isang company kami lahat (around 30 soldiers) at may kumpleto kaming supply good for three days. Pero pagdating namin sa target area, naka-position na ang mga kalaban, hayun bakbakan na agad (We thought we were just dealing with a few -- we were just one company [around 30 soldiers] and we had supply good for three days. But when we reached the target area, the enemy was already in position and fighting started immediately)," Liboon said.

In that fighting, two in Liboon's group were killed-- a junior officer and a radioman.

"At first, kakaunti lang sila, around 50. Harap-harapang labanan at habulan. Hanggang naka-enkwentro naman nila yung ibang unit (Light Reaction Company) [At first, there were just 50 of them. The fighting was face to face. Later, they encountered the other unit (Light Reaction Company)]," Liboon said.

Staff Sergeant Garry Tolentino also did not expect the fighting to last until nighttime.

"Akala namin, sandali lang ang magiging labanan dahil sa reinforcement, yun pala yung mag-aalalay sa amin ang talagang nadale ng todo (We thought the fighting would not last long because the reinforcement was coming but as it turned out, the ones who were there to help us got hit heavily)," Tolentino said, referring to the 67th Marine Raider Company, which had 18 deaths.

The wounded soldiers were puzzled that the Abu Sayyaf bandits seemed to know government troops' movements, including the 8 a.m. arrival of the 67th Marine Raider Company, which served as reinforcement.

"Ako talaga nagtataka kung bakit alam nila ang movement namin. Kung di pa malakas ang loob namin, tiyak tapos na kaming lahat (I’m wondering why they know our movements. If we were not brave enough, we would have been wiped out)," Liboon said.

Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, said the first wave of clashes started at 3:47 a.m. with government troops coming from the Special Operations Command (Scout Rangers) the 61st Marine Company, Force Recon Battalion, the Special Operations Platoon 10 and the Marine Battalion Landing Team 10.

The second wave -- with soldiers belonging to the 67th Marine Raider Company, the Force Recon Battalion and the PNP Special Action Force -- was at 5 a.m.

In the second wave, three soldiers were killed.

Dolorfino said 22 soldiers were wounded in the fighting.

Still, Dolorfino said that government achieved a "significant victory over decisive offensive against the Abu Sayyaf Group."

"We have also recovered a total of 21 enemy bodycount and 17 high-powered firearms," Dolorfino told reporters in a press briefing Thursday.

He said two Abu Sayyaf commanders, Muttong Indama and Asid Sali, were also killed.

Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, commander of Naval Forces Western Mindanao and chief of Task Force Trillium in charge of the offensives in Basilan, said government overran the bandit group's training camp.

"And we have taken their bomb manufacturing site where they assemble and make improvised explosives devices," Pama said.

Pama also said the camp was also where the group brought their kidnapping victims.

Director Felizardo Serapio Jr., chief of the Western Mindanao Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPO), said a notorious bomber in Central and North Cotabato was reported to have been hiding in the camp.

Serapio said the IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and bomb materials recovered from the camp had the "trademark" of suspected bomber Khair Mundos.

Mundos, Serapio said, bolted jail in General Santos City.

"We presume he was there to train more bombers as indicated by the volumes of IED recovered in the training camp," Serapio said.

Dolorfino, meanwhile, said the slain and wounded soldiers had "committed their supreme sacrifice to protect our people."

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/...e-comingsoldier

The arrival of the reinforcements might have been relayed by the ASG synmpathizers positioned along the roads.

The MILFs and other groups who sympathize with the ASG might have offered help as shown by the numbers of the ASG suddenly increased heavily.

THIS ONLY TELLS ONE THING;

"WE NEED THOSE WAR MACHINES NOW!"

Else, the soldiers pressed heavily in meeting PGMA's deadline will all be put into great risk.

More casualties will come if this is not addressed correctly.

related news video:

QTV: AFP Wesmincom chief Maj. Gen. Dolorfino on Basilan clash
08/13/2009 | 12:15 PM

[dohtml]<iframe src="http://www.gmanews.tv/evideo/46215/QTV-AFP-Wesmincom-chief-Maj-Gen-Dolorfino-on-Basilan-clash" frameborder="0" style="width:360px; height:290px; display:block; background: black;" scrolling="no">This page requires a higher version browser</iframe><br /><a href="http://www.gmanews.tv/">For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV</a>[/dohtml]

http://www.gmanews.tv/largevideo/related/4...n-Basilan-clash


TEXT VERSION:

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/169679/43-kill...n-Basilan---AFP

RIP to the fallen. :salute:

The AFP's and PNP's best units against the numericaclly superior ASG/MILF forces and taking the camp is still a strategic victory despite the high number of casualties.

I'm very saddened by the high number of killed soldiers. These were LRB, Scout Rangers, Force Recon - the best of the best and yet more of them died than that of Abu Sayyaf casualties.

Ayon sa ABS CBN, naglasog lasog ang mga katawan ng mga sundalo, karamihan mga shrapnel wounds...as if a whole platoon just walked into a huge booby trap.

Rest In Peace and I hope their sacrifice will not be in vain. :armycry:

Jesus Christ!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 23 KIA'S, may God have mercy on their souls and accept all of them in His gracious arms. Amen.

My goodness hope their battalion commander can sleep in the night. The Marines kept committing these blunders ever since the 70's and the marines are well known for their bravado and they would never accept criticisms. The most stupid things they used to do is sometimes they often hide their actual casualties which I think they don't do now, hopefully.

Why I cannot understand is their tactics never changed, the MNLF's, MILF's and Abu Sayyaf's have adopted to these for three decades. Sabi nga ng mga Muklo, in the jungles of Jolo and Basilan, maski nakapikit ka basang basa mo na kung paano sumugod ang marines. Abangan mo lang, then plink them one by one maski tumba ng tumba yan sugod pa rin. Sarap target practice mga marines tapos ginagapang nila baril ng mga namatay na sundalo.

I dunno with our commanders why they have these fetish of trying to overcoming rebel camps? Photo ops maybe or hopefully trying to recover enemy KIA's or rifles.

It's suicide to attack a Abu Sayyaf and engage them in close quarter combat. The marines have a long history of enormous losses doing these crazy assaults eversince the 70's.

Common's sir's time to wake up and change tactics, sayang mga nalalagas. You should de-Americanize the training doctrines and manuals. It's fact that Americans forces rely on they heavy firepower which the AFP don't have. If you want to inflict casualties sa kalaban, pagalingan lang ng kukote yan, di patapangan at payabangan or pagandahang lalake.

Basic thing sa mga well experienced na mga "warriors" na sundalo sa Mindanao, hindi yung mga battalion commander na pinwesto lang para maging general balang araw, is never to fight the enemy in his own turf and terms. Matatalo ka talaga at malalagasan ng marami no matter gaano kaganda training mo at gaano ka well equipped sa armas.

Simple lang yan, if you identified the rebel camp tabihan mo lang yan, do not go on the attack sigurado well prepared at entrencehed ang Muklo. Aaabang abangan ka lang nya sa mga prepared positions nila tapos paisa isa lang yang putok pero cguradong tumba ang sundalo. Tama na kasi kayabangan at pride of getting to overrun a rebel camp. Kapag natabihan mo select higher ground and get to study your location with reference sa rebel camp. Buksan mo ang mapa mo and study the countours from there you will have an idea sa probable location ng attck lines nila kapag sinugod ka, defences nila kapag umatras sila at routes ng reinforcements or withdrawal nila in case. D mo kailangan ng ng mga UAV's na yan, small advantage lang yan gastos lang yan idagdag mo na lang sa sweldo ng sundalo.

Ma pride ang Muklo at ubod nga tapang. Kapag tinabihan mo yan he cannot resist attacking you. Parang daga yan na naka amoy ng keso, lalabas yan sa kampo nya at babakbakan ka. Engage them on a defensive fight and better markmanship. Sugod din ng sugod yan kapag nalagasan. Do no attempt to overrun their camp, " LET THEM DEFEND THEIR CAMP". Hayaan mo lang sila dyan make them believe that they are very good and hindi mo sila kayang over run. Continue engaging them for 3 days or 7 days hanggang lumalaban sila. Walang atrasan, walang kainan. Skyflakes, saging at tubig lang at kung wala makain daming puno ng nyog dyan ubod lang pede mo na ikabuhay ng ilang araw. The longer the engagement the better. This is where why my "old man" loves his 60mm Mortar. Unleashing accurate indirect fire sa kalaban and changing positions every 5 rounds para hindi ma pinpoint ng mga snipers. Hindi mo kailangan ng 105mm artillery support or mga useless Simbas or V150's sagabal lang yan. Fight them man to man yung ang gusto nila yung ang weakness nila. Warrior vs warrior. Marines naman kasi gusto 24 hours tapos na operation then clearing, kilala na sila sa ganyan. Atat na atat umuwi sa base, mabilis daw sila magutom hehehe.

Gone are the days when the Special Forces are real Special Forces where they fight in teams together with the CHDF's. The famous Home Defence Forces Group (Airborne), All the way!!!!!. Sayang ang SF na yan naging parang infantry battallion na, ni hindi na alam kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng A company, B company at C company. Sayang lang ang mga effective experiences na accumulated nila. Same tactics pa rin naman mga Muklo and very effective pa rin kasi we never changed.

Tama na kasi pagpapaniwala nyo sa mga trainings doctrines ng mga Americans, otherwise we will end up as losers like them.



Fight.......... and fight methodically not based on manuals but on situations, study, learn, improvise, adjust sa situation hindi sugod ng sugod ayon sa initial plan. Kapag d kaya or unexpected ang situation, make a hasty retreat, study the fluid situation and make counter attack. Walang masama sa umaatras. Tama na kasi payabangan at pagandahang lalake na walang Marines na umaatras sa laban. Alam na ng Muklo ang psycholgy ng isip ng marines that's why they always inflict so many casualties sa inyo.

Wake up marines!!!!!!!!!! we can absorb these losses, learn from your mistakes and God willing you adjust tactics sa mga next encounters. Stop committing these tactical blunders you are doing ever since the 70's and 80's. Accept criticisms and learn from them.

RIP to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

I am not an experienced soldier but my my intellect is heading towards the question on how these enemies of the state can acquire weaponry that could almost equal the ones our military and police relied on the combat.

When supply of weapons to the enemy dries out, the casualty from the government can be obviously minimal. To loss more than a couple of dozen soldiers in a single encounter is just too much. This only showed that the enemy had the resources.

There should be an inroad to intelligence sealing off the point of entry if weapons are smuggled from out of the border.

Hindi ba inakusahan ng mga Magdalo boys si Angelo Reyes of selling weapons to the enemy which is one reason why they rose up against the current administration. Nasaan na ba ang Magdalo ngayon at nasaan na si Angelo Reyes? No wonder things are still the way they are because of that.

I opine may deep reason why our successes in ridding ourselves of these malcontents is always half-baked. Masyadong malalim ang influence ng mga politicians even to subjects which they are not needed on.

To the fallen Marines and Army, R.I. P. :salute:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadl...-in-Basilan-war

44 killed in Basilan war
23 soldiers, 21 Abus die in face-to-face combat

By Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao, Jocelyn Uy
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:19:00 08/14/2009

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The first bursts of gunfire thundered through the hills at 3:47 a.m. on Wednesday. By nightfall, the close-quarter, face-to-face combat was still raging, after Marine reinforcements fell into an ambush.

After the last shots had been fired, 23 soldiers—including two junior officers—lay dead, with 22 others wounded. At least 21 Abu Sayyaf bandits were also dead.

“It was a slugfest,” Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, said of the fierce gun battle on Basilan Island.

For the Armed Forces, which ordered the offensive on the Abu Sayyaf hideout, the marathon fighting achieved a strategic objective—the capture of a hilltop Abu Sayyaf training camp that the bandits had been using to make bombs.

But the military paid a steep price: It suffered its worst loss ever in a single engagement with the Abu Sayyaf, a check with Inquirer archives showed.

Eighteen of the soldiers killed belonged to a Marine company that tried to help their beleaguered comrades but were ambushed, surviving soldiers said.

Some of the wounded soldiers said what puzzled them was that the Abu Sayyaf seemed to have known in advance the government troops’ movements, including the 8 a.m. arrival of reinforcements from the 67th Marine Raider Company.

The Army identified the two junior officers killed as First Lt. Chester Barela of the Philippine Military Academy Class 2004 and First Lt. Del John Evangelista of PMA Class 2006.

Twenty of the slain soldiers belonged to the Marines, while the rest were from the Army. Among those also killed was Army Cpl. Renato Dindin.

“I was really wondering why they knew about our movements,” Private First Class Randy Liboon said in Filipino during an interview at the hospital inside the Zamboanga regional command headquarters. “If we had lost our nerve, for sure we would all be goners.”

Liboon indicated the bandits were waiting as the soldiers crept forward.

‘Enemy was waiting’

Liboon, of the 4th Scout Ranger Company, said his company was the first to arrive in the target area: The bandits’ camp in Sitio Kurrelem in the village of Silangkom.

“We thought the enemy was only few. We were one company (about 100 soldiers) and we had complete supplies for three days. But when we arrived at the target area, the enemy was already in position. Hayun, bakbakan na agad (That’s it, there was immediate fighting),” Liboon said.

“It was face-to-face fighting, then running and chasing, until they ran into our other unit (Light Reaction Company),” Liboon said.

Two in Liboon’s group were killed—a junior officer and a radioman.

“It was the most difficult and the most exhausting gun battle I had ever encountered in my whole life,” 25-year-old Private First Class Joel Alano, a member of the elite unit Light Reaction Company, told the Inquirer.

Alano, a native of La Union, was hit by shrapnel on his back.

“All throughout the day until night, there was no letup in the fighting,” Alano said, breathing heavily as he lay on his hospital bed. “We were getting hungry and weak. Then our reinforcements were ambushed.”

“As the fighting went on, they were increasing in number. At first, they seemed like they were about 50. But before nightfall, they have grown to about 200,” Alano said.

Staff Sergeant Garry Tolentino also did not expect the fighting would last until nighttime.

“We thought the fighting would only last for a short while because we had reinforcements. As it turned out, our support was hit really hard,” Tolentino said, referring to the 67th Marine Raider Company.

Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. estimated between 30 and 40 Abu Sayyaf men were killed in the fighting.

Barela, a member of the 4th Scout Ranger Company, and Evangelista, of the 3rd Light Reaction Company, were among the first soldiers to enter the Abu Sayyaf lair, Armed Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.

“It was still dark when the firefight began. The two officers were equipped with night vision goggles so they were in that group who first launched the operation,” Brawner said. He said soldiers fought the Abu Sayyaf at a very close range.

The first clash initially involved 50 Abu Sayyaf bandits, he said. A bigger clash occurred two hours later at around 5:30 a.m. and lasted seven hours with at least 300 soldiers fighting 150 Abu Sayyaf bandits.

Sporadic firefighting went on until Wednesday evening in adjacent villages as the Abu Sayyaf clashed with the military’s blocking forces, Brawner said.

‘Significant victory’

The camp which the soldiers overran was where Abu Sayyaf members were being trained in bomb-making.

Dolorfino said the slain soldiers had made “their supreme sacrifice to protect our people.”

Dolorfino said the first wave of clashes involved troops from the Special Operations Command (Scout Rangers), the 61st Marine Company, Force Recon Battalion, the Special Operations Platoon 10 and the Marine Battalion Landing Team 10.

The second wave involved soldiers from the 67th Marine Raider Company, the Force Recon Battalion and the police Special Action Force.

Dolorfino claimed that government achieved a “significant victory.”

“We have also recovered a total of 21 enemy, body count, and 17 high-powered firearms,” Dolorfino told reporters in Zamboanga.

He said two Abu Sayyaf commanders, Muttong Indama and Asid Sali, were among those killed.

Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, commander of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao and chief of Task Force Trillium in charge of the offensive in Basilan, said: “We have taken their bomb manufacturing site where they assemble and make improvised explosive devices.”

Pama said the camp was also where the group brought their kidnap victims.

“This is a big blow to their capability, especially to launch bombings, because we have deprived them of improvised explosive devices,” Brawner said.

He added: “However, we are not yet certain that they will not launch other attacks later on.”

Brawner said Wednesday’s offensive “was a deliberate operation launched by the military targeting this camp, which is the heart of the Abu Sayyaf activities.”

Director Felizardo Serapio Jr., chief of the Western Mindanao Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPO), said the explosive devices and bomb materials recovered from the camp had the “trademark” of suspected bomber Khair Mundos, who had escaped from a General Santos City jail.

“We presume he was there to train more bombers as indicated by the volumes of (explosives) recovered in the training camp,” Serapio said.

Eid Kabalu, Moro Islamic Liberation Front vice chair for military affairs, said 10 MILF men were among those killed in the clashes. He claimed soldiers entered an MILF territory, resulting in the encounter.

Kabalu claimed only two Abu Sayyaf men were killed in the daylong encounter, disputing the military tally.

Dolorfino said the military had prior coordination with the MILF.

No part-time Abu

“We sought the help of the MILF,” he said, adding that the MILF men reported killed “fought alongside the Abu Sayyaf.”

“We considered them Abu Sayyaf bandits. There is no such thing as part-time (Abu Sayyaf), part-time MILF,” Dolorfino said.

Military officials could not remember suffering as heavy a loss as Wednesday’s since the carnage on July 20, 2007, when 14 Marines were killed—10 of them beheaded—during a fruitless rescue operation for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi.

Brawner said: “We are saddened by our loss ... but it is an accepted fact that part of our duties would entail risk of being killed in action. Death is a natural consequence of such operation.” With reports from AP and Reuters

Disturbing, the ASG fighters were able to decapitate the SR unit's command element in darkness even though the SR officer and probably his radioman were wearing NVGs.

A debacle but I'm not sure for whom. the AFP with a shockingly high number of KIA or the ASG/MILF whose camp was captured, but then they will just set up camp in another location so Im not entirely convinced with Gen. Dolorfino's pronouncement that this was a strategic victory.

But still a pyrrhic victory for the AFP. There should be a review of the battle plan and COs who failed the troops should be investigated and punished accordingly.

My prayers to the fallen AFP and PNP personnel.

All of us here were not there so we can only speculate on what happened.

My salute to the fallen heroes :salute: may your souls rest in peace.

Get well soon brave warriors!

share ko lang comment from a member of the Scout Ranger group::

no wonder the terrorists were alert and ready for the attack, the element of surprise is non existent :armyeek:

Hindi ba ganun rin dun sa Blackhawk Down? They used celfons and radios to alert their compadres. Dapat may diversionary moves ginawa then yun attack coming from a different area much like what happened sa Desert Storm wherein they led the Iraqis to believe na by sea ang attack when it came from land pala.

I won't comment about the plan for this mission dahil hindi ko naman alam. I sure wished nga lang na dapat mas well supported and equipped ang forces natin for such kind of operations. I for one would equip the boys going ahead with what Ultimaxes we have each then reinforced by a mobile mortar carrier.

Nasaan nga pala yun pesteng UAV natin? Hindi ba nagamit man lang for this operation? Baka naman ginagawang laruan ng kung sinong pesteng tuta ni Glu.

I agree and with no disrespect to the AFP dead. What good are heroes if most of them are dead? The AFP should really get its act together and strive mightily to minimize adding more dead heroes . The takeover of the camp was ended a Pyrrhic victory and not something to crow about because we all know that the bad guys who escaped would just set up another camp on top of another hill in Basilan...to be assaulted again and hopefully with more live heroes than dead ones.

If this is another country, another war, with this number of casualties, Dolorfino would have been relieved.

No matter how he spins this as "strategic victory", there's no question that he botched this operation big time. And he knows this.

Fighting subsides in southern Philippines; military gives honors to 23 slain soldiers.



Friday, August 14, 2009 03:19:03 PM

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 14, 2009) – Fighting between troops and Moro rebels subsided in the southern Philippine province of Basilan as the military on Friday gave funeral honors to 23 soldiers killed in the clashes.

“There have been no reports of fighting in Basilan, but military operations against the Abu Sayyaf still continue,” said Marine Major General Benjamin Dolorfino, commander of military forces in Mindanao.




Relatives in Zamboanga City view Thursday, August 13, 2009 the caskets of soldiers killed in fierce clashes in Basilan province in the southern Philippines.


Troops stormed an Abu Sayyaf camp in the hinterland village of Silangkum in Ungkaya Pukan town on Wednesday and seized weapons and improvised explosives. But soldiers also clashed with a group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in the neighboring village of Baguindan that sparked daylong clashes that also killed 10 gunmen.

The MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, accused government soldiers of attacking the rebels. It said troops also mutilated the bodies of three of rebels, including a senior MILF leader, killed in the clashes.





Dolorfino denied the MILF accusations. “That’s not true,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

On Friday, Dolorfino led funeral honors for the slain soldiers in Zamboanga City along with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Armed Forces chief General Victor Ibrado.





Relatives and families of killed soldiers weep as fellow soldiers pay their last respect to the fallen marines and infantrymen. Coffins of soldiers were paraded inside the Western Mindanao Command headquarters where hundreds of soldiers and civilian employees lined up a road leading to the gymnasium where the caskets are put on display for public viewing.





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continuation of topic :
Fighting subsides in southern Philippines; military gives honors to 23 slain soldiers

“What did they do to our boy? He’s such a young soldier. He doesn’t deserve this brutality,” cried one woman.

And just across the woman, family members also gathered and weeping around a coffin of a soldier, whose face was deformed because of what looked like a hack wound. Two other caskets were closed to hide the wounds in the faces of the slain soldiers, both marines.





Lieutenant Colonel Gamal Hayudini, commander of the military’s 4th Civil Relations Group, said MILF gunmen engaged government troops, who were pursuing the Abu Sayyaf, in a firefight despite an earlier coordination between the military and the rebel group.





“The government forces were confident with the on-going peace negotiation, thus, making the troops believe that nothing will really happen since the MILF was informed of the pursuit operations but unexpectedly, they engaged in firefight with our forces. The MILF should not mislead the people by always passing on the blame to the government forces,” he said.






The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group which is fighting the past three decades for self-determination.

President Gloria Arroyo opened up peace talks with the MILF in 2001 in an effort to put an end to the bloody fighting in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?n...=20090814031903






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continuation of topic :

Fighting subsides in southern Philippines; military gives honors to 23 slain soldiers






















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:salute:

:btt:

Meron ba silang air support? Kung meron, anu ang ginamit nila?

‘We have beheaded your loved one'

By Inquirer Mindanao, Julie Alipala
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:25:00 08/15/2009


ZAMBOANGA CITY—Most of them bore hack wounds. One had his head nearly severed.

And as they lay dying or dead, one of the Abu Sayyaf bandits sent a text message to the wife of one of the fallen Marines: “Pinugutan na namin ang mahal mo (We have beheaded your loved one).”

Rosalyn Toroy, 26, broke into tears when she showed the Philippine Daily Inquirer the message. It was sent from her husband’s own cellphone, which the Abu Sayyaf bandit had apparently taken from his body.

Private First Class Darylle Toroy of Iloilo City was among the 23 soldiers—18 of them Marines—who were killed in a daylong gunbattle with the Abu Sayyaf at Tipo-Tipo on Basilan island on Wednesday. At least 21 of the bandits also died in the clashes.

On Friday, the caskets of the slain soldiers, each draped with a Philippine flag, lay in rows at the gymnasium of the Western Mindanao Command here.





The Toroys were only recently married. Rosalyn had not received a more cruel text message.

The bandits, it turned out, had not touched her husband’s head.

But they did hack him in the legs and he also had a gunshot wound in the body, Rosalyn said.

Last remembrance

Of all the possessions Sergeant Toroy had with him when he went into battle that day, all that was left with Rosalyn was the broken casing of his stolen cell phone.

“Heto ang naiwang ala-ala ni Darylle (This is the only remembrance Darylle left),” Rosalyn said.

He sent his last message to his wife at around 5 a.m. on the day of his last battle. “He said he was going into an operation and he said goodbye (nagpaalam pa ito),” Rosalyn said.

‘They are God-less’

She said the bandit who sent his message through her husband’s phone “even called us pigs (baboy).”

“I told them they were God-less,” Rosalyn said in tears.

“At least, he was brought home with his face intact but he had slash wounds in the legs,” she said.

Driven by poverty

The mourners at the gym included Levi and Cecilia Roxas. They came all the way from M’lang, North Cotabato, to weep for their son, Private First Class Enrico Jaravata Roxas, 23, of the 67th Marine Raider Company.

He was among those inside the coffins.

Enrico’s body was riddled with bullets. He also had hack wounds in the lower thighs.

The Roxases said their son joined the Marines three years ago because of poverty. “That was the reason he became a soldier,” Cecilia Roxas said.

Then she embraced her son’s casket.

Pining for justice

Sgt. Reynaldo Torejas, a former member of the Presidential Security Group, suffered a harsher fate. His head was nearly severed, according to his elder brother Cecilio, from Zamboanga Sibugay.

Speaking in Filipino, Cecilio said: “He was also hit by a sniper shot in the head. What happened to my brother was awful.”

“Lahat ng mga marinong namatay ay may mga taga (All the Marines who died had hack wounds),” Cecilio said.

Another brother, Pablo, said Torejas had long wanted to retire from the military service and go into business.

Cecilio said bitterly: “There should be genuine justice here. The President should issue a really strong order to finish off these rebels. They should be wiped out from this earth (dapat mawala na sila sa mundo).”

Pablo said that before that could happen, the government should be serious in its campaign against the Abu Sayyaf.

To the last breath

Cecilio said he was proud of his brother and of the other soldiers because they stood their ground despite being overpowered.

“They were at a disadvantage because they were surrounded but even if they were outnumbered they really fought to their last breath,” Cecilio said, trying to check his emotions.

He said his brother and the other slain Marines were not actually part of the assaulting team but had been ordered to recover the bodies of two junior officers killed earlier in the first wave of clashes, as well as reinforce the other units.

The two officers were 1st Lt. Chester Barela of the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion and 1st Lt. Dhell Jhun Evangelista of the Light Reaction Company.

They literally walked to where the Abu Sayyaf bandits were waiting.

“The fighting was fierce. They were beaten but the Abu Sayyaf were not satisfied. They even hacked them. That was too much,” Cecilio said.

Family survival

Arlene Miranda, wife of Marine Sgt. Elmer Miranda said she was at least fortunate compared to the other widows because she has a job as a midwife.

For others, family survival was a big question on Friday.

One of the grieving women at the gym said: “How many more wives will lose their husbands, how many more children will lose their fathers, how many more will be next? How many more soldiers will sacrifice their lives for a war without end?”

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadl...diers-mutilated

Its very sad to know that Filipinos can be so cruel to one another. Hate all in the name of Christianity and Muslim. Why waste money, lives and Pride. Sending text messages to innocent family members will only breed more hate for Muslims by Christians and vice versa. The Good they die Young. The Brave they die Bravely.

Filipino troops deplyed to UN missions wear 7.62 body armor and kevlar helmets. Why were these brave soldiers and marines not issued them?

Well, budget not enough for every soldier to each have a Kevlar helmet and vest.

Probably, the ASG has NVGs too.

Worse, they know what to hit.

Imagine? They focused on the radioman and TL?

Our soldiers should never be complacent. The enemy may also have what they believe they have as an advantage.

As for the many casualties, i don't exactly believe that it was planned bad. They military was being pressured by the Arroyo leadership to meet the deadline. The elite Army and Marine as first wave was a smart move.

Then reinforcement from the second were elite units as well. The Marine Raider Company aren't sissies. These are among the elite units within the Marine Force. There's also the Force Recon and Police SAF, the counter-terrorism force of the PNP who are trained and armed well enough for this job.

What just happened is what we should blame the government for. The MILF and and ASG are well armed and in fact are equal or even better-equipped compared to our infantry. They have RPGs, while our military doesnt. They can use IED, while our soldiers cant. they have terrain advantage and ready supply of reinforcement from the same surrounding anytime. They maybe MILF, or the locals themselves who are naturally sympathetic to their relatives and fellow brothers in faith.

So, as we see here, the soldiers are not just fighting bandits here. THEY ARE UP AGAINST A WELL-ORGANIZED ENEMY FORCE. The effectiveness of the operations of the first wave was manifested by the very low casualty rate despite being outnumbered.

We should be very proud of our elite Army (Scout Rangers) and Marine forces (Force Recon and Special Operations Platoon).

A casualty of two and holding ground and finally defeating a more superior enemy in firepower and number is a great feat.

I agree with the military when it said that the operation was successful.

What happened in the second wave was a result of getting there too quick but UNPROTECTED.

I cannot say they were careless, since these soldiers knew the place.

As for the protection, the APC or IFV plus the Attack Helicopters could have provided that.

But then again, these government is giving too little attention to those concerns. They'd rather spend taxpayer's money for lavish travel and dining abroad and their contingency funds and their pork barrel.

The MILF as well as the sympathizers from the community will never dare join when the foot soldiers are protected by ample air support. But since they realized that the foot soldiers aren't protected by ample air support and the armored infantry, they dared to confront the military.

Let me tell this again, (despite telling it over a hundred times), the sum of all the military tactics is simply "OVERPOWERING" them when we have the chance.

In this case, it was the military that got overpowered, especially the second wave team, and which resulted to the heavy casualty.

Sayang, ang ganda sana ng concept. First wave is the expert in stealthy assault. All experts and well equipped for CQB and surgical strikes. Then suportado ng "equally" excellent unit.

Kaso, KOMPIYANSA ng operation commander and nagpahamak. Walang Artillery at Air Support, no heavy caliber guns.

Medyo nakalimutan na terrain, firepower at numerical advantage ay hawak pa rin ng kalaban.

Sayang.

Perfect sana manuever. The 20mm guns and 19 rockets of the Super Cobra could easily disorient the ASG and influx of armed supporters.

Tapos yung elite strike teams natin pitik na lang ng pitik ng kalaban na hilong talilong sa paghanap ng matataguan at pag-iwas sa air strike.

Kaso, ang nagyari ginamit ng ASG yung terrain advantage, preparation time, intel from sympathizers and pool of armed sympathizers.

KAYA SILA YUNG PITIK NG PITIK HABANG YUNG SUNDALO ANG NAGDEDEPENSA AT HANAP NAG TAMANG PWESTO.

Baliktarin natin kaya? Diba mas maganda?

Baka sumuko na lang lahat ng ASG at MILF pag nakita nila na ganun na ang bagung diskarte ng AFP. Pagsamahin dapat kasi ng AFP ang new technology at skills ng infantry. Sigurado laging panalo ang sundalo.

Gawin natin scientific ang stratehiya at taktika at hindi yung lumang diskarte na laging talo.

Yung MILF sinungaling yan an kesyo wala silang abiso.

Alam na ng MILF na lulusubin ng tropa yan kasi alam naman nila an ASG iyan at alam ng MILF na may ASG camp diyan.

Kunwari lang di nila alam para masuportahan nila yung ASG ijn the guise na hindi sila informed at akala daw nila sila ang tinitira ng sundalo.

Ginagago lang kayo ng MILF. Alam naman nila na ASG camp yan kaya anytime lulusubin yan.

Bakit di nila palayuin si ASG sa kampo nila?

Pero kasi nga tinutulungan din nila si ASG. Ginagago lang talaga ang military at media at sinasabi na walang coordination.

PALAKASIN NATIN YUNG WAR MACHINES. HEAVY BOMBERS WITH GUIDED BOMBS, CLUSTER BOMBS AND INCENDIARY AND ALL.

Ang maganda ay dapat warningan si MILF na kapag pumayag sila pa palapition si ASG within 50 meters sa campo nila ay babanatan ng ng AFP ng HEAVY ARTILLERY FIRE AT CARPET BOMBING ang kampo nila.

Ganun dapat para mapwersa si MILF na makisunod sa usapan.

Para maski isang metro na lang bahay ng MILF official ay magsinungaling naman siya sa ASG na ..... "Eh hindi ko alam na galing sa military eh. Akala ko nagprapraktis lang kayo at sumabog ginagawa niyo ng bomba."

O di ba mas maganda na siya naman magsinungaling sa ASG?

Ganun dapat. Maski may ceasefire ay banat kung tatakbo sa MILF yung ASG. maski na magtago pa siya sa bahay ni MILF chair.

Ganun dapat. Laban kung laban.

Last, huwag niyong kutyain yung mga sundalo maski yung namatay. They are all elite units kung susuriin niyong mabuti.

NAGKULANG LANG SI GENERAL SA DISKARTE. Pero di naman masyado. Nagsama na siguro pressure from Malacanang at sobrang kampante.

Perfect na sana kasi puro capable mga strike at reinforcing units.

Kaso OVERPOWERED at that time.

Dapat di na maulit ito.

Complement natin galing ng tropa with proper fire support, transport, at real-time monitoring ng galaw ng buong laban from the air or by other elite units tasked to do that.

Siguradong walang kawala at kalaban-laban si ASG at maski pa makihalo pa si MILF.

:salute: RIP to the brave Marines and Army troopers who gave their all just to serve this country. Nothing can be greater than that.