PAF in Action, Bombing missions, CAS, rescue

http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV2004081416267.html

COTABATO CITY – Two military bombers pounded yesterday a suspected lair of a kidnap-for-ransom group at the boundary of Salipada K. Pendatun (SKP) in Maguindanao and Lambayong in Sultan Kudarat.

Eid Kabalu, spokesman for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said at least 10 bombs from OB-10 attack planes had been dropped since 6 a.m. yesterday, causing the mass evacuation of thousands of residents from barangay Midpandakan in SKP and Pembalayan in Lambayong.

The bombings, Lambayong Mayor Ramon Abalos said, could be heard even in the poblacion of Lambayong.

“Talagang malakas ang mga bagsak ng bomba,” he said.

In an interview, Abalos said the bombardment was military’s act of reprisal against a group of lawless elements who attacked Wednesday night a military detachment in barangay Log Pond, Sultan sa Barongis, a town in Maguindanao.

But Kabalu said the government troops were running after the kidnappers of Zoila Cansi, a businesswoman of Lambayong who was abducted last March.

“The MILF and the government had already agreed to work together to crush the group of kidnappers in the area. That is part of the agreement, thus it is not intended to attack our troops,” said Kabalu.

While the MILF agreed with the military’s plan to pursue the members of the Pentagon kidnap gang, it does not agree with the use of OB-10 attack planes “just to drive away the lawless elements.”
“Even civilians or those residing near the suspected kidnapping lair might be hit by bombings,” Kabalu said.

The area under attack is part of the area of the 105th Infantry Brigade of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Armed Forces led by a certain “Commander Jack.”

ooops Manila Bulletin got it wrong - OB-10 for OV-10

This post has been edited by Boombanger on Aug 14 2004, 07:29 PM

saw that OV 10 use rockets on those bastards

military is claiming pentagon leader alonto was among of those killed but no body was found and still they insists he is dead remember the case of sabaya? no body was also found...

Maybe Alonto was hit by a full rocket salvo from a gunship.

You just might be right Rallion Tiger if this account is true...

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?...ional&OID=57395

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?...ional&OID=57395

SHOW ME!!!!!!!!!!!

Ya right --- just like the Americans do in Iraq in their press briefings.

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2004/n...041121met1.html

Sunday November 21, 2004


Military air strike on Abu Sayyaf
bandits in Maguindanao kills 10


THE military has killed at least 10 people in an air raid on a suspected meeting between the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang and Jemaah Islamiyah extremists in Maguindanao, a senior military official said Saturday.

But the allegation was denied by a spokesman for the country’s main Muslim separatist group who said that the attack had hit members of his organization in violation of a cease-fire in place with the government.

Four MG-520 helicopters and two OV-10 planes blasted two houses in the marshlands of Maguindanao on Friday, where about 50 Abu Sayyaf members were believed meeting with two Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah members, said Major General Raul Relano, regional military chief.

About 10 bodies were seen floating in the marsh waters after the attack, but it could not be confirmed if they were Abu Sayyaf or Jemaah Islamiyah members, Relano said.

Two Huey helicopters tried to land troops in the area but could not touch down due to the deep water, he said, and this had forced the military to resort to air strikes owing to the difficulty of entering the marsh by foot.

One Huey helicopter was slightly damaged by return fire, Relano said.

He said the attack in the central part of the main southern island of Mindanao did not violate a ceasefire in place between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the main Muslim separatist group in the country.

Neither Jemaah Islamiyah or Abu Sayyaf are covered by the cease-fire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front sealed two years ago as part of a process towards forging an eventual peace accord.

However, Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the front, said that the attacks hit a gathering of MILF fighters and that no Abu Sayyaf or Jemaah Islamiyah members were at the site during the air strike.

One MILF fighter was wounded in the attack, forcing the rebels to fire back, he added.

Kabalu said the incident had been reported to a joint cease fire monitoring committee and that an international monitoring team, made up of Malaysian and Brunei security personnel, would be asked to investigate the incident.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Bienvenido Pascual said the air strike was prompted by reliable military intelligence reports that Abu Sayyaf chieftains Khadaffy Janjalani and Isnilon Hapilon were meeting in the area with suspected Jemaah Islamiyah members led by Mike Usman.

The Abu Sayyaf, known for kidnapping and bombing attacks against Christians and foreigners in Mindanao, has been linked by both Washington and Manila to the al-Qaeda network of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

But Abu Sayyaf has not previously been closely tied to Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for terror attacks in Southeast Asia such as the Bali bombings in October 2002, which killed 202 people.

The Abu Sayyaf had largely been based in the southern islands of Jolo and Basilan but a government crackdown by US-trained Filipino troops caused Janjalani and other top leaders to seek refuge in Sultan Kudarat, adjacent to Maguindanao.

Jemaah Islamiyah is considered the regional chapter of al-Qaeda. The government has said that at least four Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah members are hiding in the southern Philippines.

Although some defense officials have accused rebel commanders of sheltering Jemaah Islamiyah members in violation of the cease-fire, the MILF has consistently denied this.
-- AFP

The AFP has no capability to enter the deepwater marshes of Maguindanao to verify identity of those killed?

How come the ASG and JI elements were able to do so and had their little meeting?

Just wondering a little.....

from Khaleej Times Online

Troops bombard suspected terrorist lairs in Philippines
(DPA)

27 January 2005


ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Philippine troops on Thursday launched air strikes on suspected lairs of Al Qaeda-linked Muslim rebels and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants in a southern province, a regional military official said.

OV-10 bomber planes and MG-520 attack helicopters took turns in pounding the suspected terrorist lair in Butilan marshland in Datu Piang town, Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, said Colonel Domingo Tutaan.

Tutaan said the military received reports that Abu Sayyaf rebel leaders, about six JI operatives and renegade members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been holed up in the area since two weeks ago.

“So far, we have not received reports of any casualties,” he said. ”Ground troops have been dispatched to the area to start clearing operations.”

Tutaan said the bombing operation was coordinated with a government and MILF joint committee implementing a ceasefire between the two sides to avoid allegations of violations.

Military sources said that among the terrorists in the Butilan area were two suspects in the October 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, which killed more than 200 people.

The military said at least 33 JI operatives have remained in the jungles of the southern region of Mindanao and were training rogue MILF rebels and Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in bomb-making and bombings in preparation for terror attacks in the country.

Still no reports on body counts, though.

This is the second attempt to eliminate Janjalani and the JI already.

Something is not making us happy here.

The public needs to hear something better than that!

Will are our long-range shooters come in handy and our Spec Ops?

Military airstrike kills 40 Al-Qaeda linked rebels in south

Posted 03:01pm (Mla time) Jan 28, 2005
By Joel Francis Guinto
INQ7.net


FORTY al-Qaeda-linked rebels, including two suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), were killed in a military airstrike over their alleged hideout on a marshland in Datu Piang town, Maguindanao province, officials said Friday.
Lieutenant General Alberto Braganza, military Southern Command (SouthCom) chief, told Camp Aguinaldo reporters that the death toll was based on radio signals from the rebels, intercepted by military intelligence.

Major General Raul Relano, chief of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said in a separate interview that three rebels were injured based on initial reports.

Braganza and Relano said they could not determine the affiliations of the other casualties. One government soldier, flying a helicopter gunship, was slightly wounded, Relano said.

Some 300 MILF rebels, led by renegade commander Wahid Kalil Tondok, were in Butilan marsh allegedly coddling some 40 Abu Sayyaf bandits and several JI members, Relano said.

"They have scattered in the area. It is useless bombing them now," Relano said in a telephone interview.

Relano said checkpoints were set up around the marsh area to prevent the bandits from escaping.

Tondok's group was allegedly behind an attack on an Army detachment in Linantangan town earlier this month, which left seven soldiers and 15 rebels killed.

Tondok has refused to surrender to the government and the MILF.

The MILF, while insisting that they did not sanction the assault, refused to surrender the Muslim rebel leader.

=====================================================


Their intel guy said that Janjalani and Tondok was there.

So when can we hear their names as among the casualties?

is this reliable, what if the rebels just state a figure any figure over the airwaves knowing the military is monitoring but actually the casualties are lower than what they are broadcasting.

is this reliable, what if the rebels just state a figure any figure over the airwaves knowing the military is monitoring but actually the casualties are lower than what they are broadcasting.

New kind of BDA huh? Bullshit Damage Assesment