Philippine soldiers captured a key jungle stronghold of Muslim rebels, ousting defenders blamed for recent attacks on an army post and bombings in Manila and two other cities, military officials said yesterday.
Lieutenant General Alberto Braganza, commander of the military's Southern Command, was to fly by helicopter with other military officials to Bitan-ag, the hilly complex near Panamao town that hundreds of troops wrested from armed followers of jailed Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari after days of fierce gunbattles.
Philippine Army Captain Abdurasad Sirajan, spokesman for an anti-terrorist military task force, told reporters that "the entire Bitan-ag camp has been fully captured."
All of the fewer than 100 gunmen fled in small groups toward Jolo's mountainous center as the military moved in. Soldiers would pursue the gunmen, who are led by local religious leader Habier Malik, the military said.
After suffering heavy casualties in the clashes, military officials brimmed with pride over the rebel camp's capture.
"They can't win over the government, whatever their lawless desire is," Southern Command chief of staff Colonel Domingo Tutaan said.
About 3,000 soldiers and marines have been pursuing Misuari's followers -- backed by guerrillas of the Abu Sayyaf group -- since they attacked an army detachment in Panamao on Feb. 7, provoking clashes that killed 27 soldiers and wounded 72 others. Troops have killed 37 gunmen and wounded scores of others, the military said.
The rebel attacks were apparently a retaliation for the death of a number of people, including a child, who were caught in a crossfire when troops assaulted a community of Misuari's followers while pursuing suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. The military has acknowledged the child was accidentally hit in an army assault.
Abu Sayyaf -- blamed for numerous kidnappings in the southern Philippines -- claimed responsibility for bombings Monday in Manila's financial district and the southern cities of General Santos and Davao which killed seven people and wounded at least 123, apparently to divert the military's attention and ease the pressure on the beleaguered gunmen on Jolo, the military said.
Despite the bomb attacks, President Gloria Arroyo said Tuesday that the military assaults on Jolo would continue. She vowed to crush the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf.
"The desperation of the enemy cannot be underestimated, even as it lies in the throes of defeat," Arroyo said. "More than ever, we must not pull back but move forward to wipe out the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf."
Security forces were placed on full alert nationwide to thwart more bombings.
Misuari formerly headed the Moro National Liberation Front, a large Muslim separatist group that accepted limited autonomy and signed a peace accord with the government in 1996.
But violence reignited years later and Misuari was imprisoned near Manila on charges of rebellion. Many of his armed followers have peacefully settled in Jolo but have been periodically accused of coddling Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
From his mountain lair protected by dense jungle, Haber Malik, leader of the Muslim rebellion on remote Jolo island in the southern Philippines, made an impassioned plea recently for support.
In a tape recorded message Malik, who heads one of the many factions of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), called on fellow Muslims to unify against "abuses" by troops cracking down on militants in the Sulu archipelago, where Jolo is located.
"My brothers and sisters in Jolo and the surrounding islands, we have to help each other. If you let the military get away with these abuses, we will be like chickens, being eaten one by one," he urged.
Then came the Valentine's Day bombings, three explosions which rocked the capital Manila as well as Davao City and General Santos on southern Mindanao island, killing 12 people and injuring more than 130.
Another Muslim group, the extremist Abu Sayyaf, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Its spokesman Abu Solaiman said on radio shortly after Monday night's bombings that it was a "response to the Philippine government's atrocities committed against Muslims everywhere ... from Manila to remote areas like Sulu."
For the government and the military the concern was that the Abu Sayyaf -- a kidnap gang named by the US as a terror organization believed to have links to Al Qaeda -- had joined forces with Malik.
In recent years Abu Sayyaf, which has been kidnapping Christians and foreigners for ransom and staging bombing attacks throughout the country, has been the main thorn in the side of successive Philippine governments and the military.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
ACTIONABLE ADVICE: The majority of chatbots tested provided guidance on weapons, tactics and target selections, with Perplexity and Meta AI deemed to be the least safe From school shootings to synagogue bombings, leading artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks, according to a study published on Wednesday that highlighted the technology’s potential for real-world harm. Researchers from the nonprofit watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate and CNN posed as 13-year-old boys in the US and Ireland to test 10 chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Deepseek and Meta AI. Eight of the chatbots assisted the make-believe attackers in more than half the responses, providing advice on “locations to target” and “weapons to use” in an attack, the study said. The chatbots had become a “powerful accelerant for
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
RSS