JI Bali bombers, top Abu slip past AFP troops in Sulu

Two of Southeast Asia’s most wanted terrorists and the Abu Sayyaf’s chieftain evaded capture when US-trained troops raided a terrorist camp in a remote barangay in Jolo, Sulu yesterday.

Troops with night-vision goggles barged into three huts and captured three Abu Sayyaf terrorists and seized two M-16 rifles.

The military did not immediately identify the three captured terrorists.

However, Indonesians Dulmatin – who goes by one name – and Umar Patek, alleged bombmakers of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group responsible for the deadly October 2002 Bali bombings, and Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon escaped after the 3rd Light Reaction Company (LRC) and military intelligence agents stormed a cluster of huts in Barangay Kanlimot, Talipao town about 5:20 a.m.

Reacting to the escape of Dulmatin, Patek and Hapilon, Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said: "That’s how it goes… win some, lose some, get some, lose some, but you can be assured that the operations will go on without letup."

Brig. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, Joint Special Operations Group (JSOG) commander, said a lookout had signaled the terrorist leaders hidden in the huts to escape before the raiding troops could stop him.

The terrorist hideout was in a cluster of nipa huts with a lot of coconut trees serving as camouflage, he added.

"The high value targets were able to escape, but some of their personal belongings were left behind," he said.

The three captured Abu Sayyaf terrorists are undergoing tactical interrogation in a military camp, Pabustan said.

Hours after the raid, a Marine was wounded in an encounter with another Abu Sayyaf band led by sub-commander Jul Asbi in Barangay Darawan, in Patikul town, also in Sulu.

Three Abu Sayyaf terrorists were believed killed in the 20-minute shootout.

The wounded Marine, Private First Class Erwin Valenzuela, is now in stable condition in a military hospital, according to Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan.

Special operation platoon 5 under the 3rd Marine Brigade was on a clearing operation in Barangay Bakong when they encountered the 30-man Abu Sayyaf band at about 9:15 a.m. Monday, said Maj. Eugene Batara, Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief.

The US government has posted a reward of $10 million for the capture of Dulmatin and $1 million for Patek.

More than 8,000 troops are in Jolo on instructions from President Arroyo to crush the Abu Sayyaf, whom experts say once received funding from al-Qaeda.

The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for a series of bomb attacks in recent years, as well as for high-profile kidnappings of foreigners and missionaries.

A US-backed offensive that involved up to 10,000 soldiers led to the killing of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani in September and his presumed successor, Abu Sulaiman, in January in Jolo.

The remaining Abu Sayyaf members, said to number around 400, have splintered into smaller units trying to evade government forces.

Hapilon is among the last few senior Abu Sayyaf leaders trying to assert overall command over the terrorist group.

The US government has offered up to $5 million for his arrest.

US and Philippine military intelligence information indicated Patek and Hapilon were hiding with several gunmen in Barangay Kanlimot, Talipao town.

Patek and Dulmatin are believed to have fled from Indonesia to Mindanao in 2003 to escape a nationwide manhunt over their alleged role in the Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people in Southeast Asia’s worst terrorist attack.

The military believes the two Indonesians have helped plot terror attacks and provide bomb-making and combat training to Abu Sayyaf and Indonesian militants.

Hapilon is being sought for alleged involvement in mass kidnappings, including the abduction of 17 Filipinos and three American tourists - missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Guillermo Sobero - from a resort in Palawan in May 2001. — with Roel Pareño, AP, AFP