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Philippine military vows to pin down Abu Sayyaf rebels |
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Source Xinhua
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Wednesday, 15 August 2007 |
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The Philippine military Sunday vowed to pin down Abu Sayyaf rebels responsible for the death of 25 soldiers in Sulu last Thursday as the country's defense and military officials were discussing new tactics to engage the rebels in the southern island province.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and military chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon have also decided to focus military operation on Abu Sayyaf rebels after the latest casualties suffered by the military.
Teodoro, who assumed his post Wednesday, flew to Zamboanga Esperon and Army chief Romeo Tolentino on Sunday to meet commanders behind closed doors to assess the situation and brace troops for a new battle against the rebels, said the official Philippine News Agency.
Philippine Army spokesman Ernesto Torres told local media that the military "will not let their sacrifices go to waste."
The Army soldiers were killed in separate skirmishes with Abu Sayyaf fighters and members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Indanan and Maimbung town in Sulu, 900 kilometers south of Manila on Thursday.
A total of two Army battalions, or 1,000 men, are being sent to Sulu to reinforce the 4,000 Army and Marine soldiers already in the island province, said Torres.
"We have to sustain this operation because we have initiated contact with these terrorists. We know that they are elusive, its just like we are fighting a faceless enemy. We have enough ammunitions to battle the terrorists," he said.
Torres said that since last Thursday's skirmishes, there have been no reported armed contact with the joint Abu Sayyaf and the rogue MNLF forces in Sulu.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has also ordered the setting up of a temporary Army headquarters in Zamboanga City near Sulu.
Thursday's ambush followed the killing of 14 Marine soldiers in Basilan near Sulu on July 10 by another rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Ten of the soldiers were found beheaded or mutilated.
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