Al-Qaeda linked militants beheaded three loggers in the Philippines in apparent retaliation to government offensives in the south of the country, security officials said yesterday.
The killings were carried out as the country celebrated its 112th Independence Day, and is the latest in a series of terror acts by the Abu Sayyaf insurgency to mark the holiday.
GUNMEN
About 30 Abu Sayyaf gunmen ran into the three Christian men, who were hauling timber in a rain forest near Maluso town on Basilan island on Saturday.
Relatives found their remains hours later, Basilan provincial police chief Antonio Mendoza said.
The latest killings apparently were a retaliation for the ongoing military and police operations, which have killed a number of militants, Mendoza said.
“When they are hurt by our offensives, they resort to these atrocities,” Mendoza said, adding that all of Basilan’s 675 strong police force, with an additional 100 police commandos, were involved in the manhunt and assaults against the militants.
Hundreds of soldiers also are taking part.
This was the second time that Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for beheading a hostage on Independence Day after they killed Guillermo Sobero, from the US, in 2001 as their holiday “gift” to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Another American was killed in a military rescue a year later.
US BACKING
Despite years of US-backed offensives, nearly 400 Abu Sayyaf fighters have survived in Basilan and on nearby Jolo island and the Zamboanga peninsula. They remain a major security concern as part of a decades-long Muslim insurgency.
The Abu Sayyaf, which was founded in Basilan in 1991, is believed by both US and Philippine security officials to have received funds and training from Osama bin Laden’s network.
A ruthless commander, Puruji Indama, led the group behind Saturday’s beheadings, Mendoza said.
A search for Indama and his men was under way in the jungles near Maluso, which is near Sumisip township — scene of most military and police operations against the Abu Sayyaf in recent weeks, he said.
Indama’s group has also been blamed for the killings of three hostages and two villagers near Sumisip on June 4 in attacks that followed the death of three Abu Sayyaf fighters in a clash with army Scout Rangers the same day.
Government troops have mounted an offensive in and around Sumisip in Basilan, a predominantly Muslim island located about 880km south of Manila, amid intelligence reports that a number of militants allied with the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah have taken refuge in Abu Sayyaf encampments.
WANTED MAN
Among the militants is Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, a US-trained Malaysian engineer accused by Philippine authorities of involvement in a number of deadly bombings in the Philippines.
The US has offered a US$5 million reward for Marwan’s capture.
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