Iron fist

There is a major battle raging in Sulu between an AFP force of 7,000 and the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group. It is a battle that has raged for weeks and should now be nearing its climax.

In the last reported firefight last Thursday three Marines and ten bandits were killed. In the skirmish previous to that, Army special forces units overran a bandit camp and killed senior bandit leader Abu Sulaiman (Jainal Antel Sali Jr.). Forensic experts are now confirming if the corpse recovered late last year belongs to Khadaffy Janjalani, the top man of the bandit group.

Sulaiman, who is responsible for a string of terrorist atrocities, carries a $5 million reward for his head offered by the US government. He was involved in the kidnapping of American nationals as well as the bombing of the Superferry on Manila Bay.

During a skirmish on January 9, Army Scout Rangers killed Binang Sali. The casualty was reported to be the spiritual adviser of the bandit gang.

The main goal of the current offensive against remnants of the bandit group is the neutralization of two Indonesian operatives of the Jemaah Islamiyah, Dulmatin and Omar Patek. The two militants are responsible for the murderous 2002 Bali bombings and have sought sanctuary with the Abu Sayyaf.

By providing sanctuary to the two Indonesian militants, the bandit group invited a military offensive that is significantly supported by the Americans and whose outcome is closely observed internationally. Inasmuch as the bandit group has committed all its forces to protecting the two Indonesian militants, the goal of this current offensive will likely see the complete eradication of the Abu Sayyaf.

The series of skirmishes the past few weeks resulted in the killing or capture of nearly the entire leadership circle of the Abu Sayyaf. The remaining forces, now under heavy siege, are believed to be under the command of the last bandit commander left standing: Radullan Sahiron (Kumander Putol).

There is a possibility, however, that Sahiron himself might have been killed in the previous skirmishes. That has not been reliably confirmed, and it will have to be assumed that the man is still leading what could be the last contingent of Abu Sayyaf bandits.

A word has to be put in about the courage of our troops. Few have done that at a time where it is more fashionable to decry the actions of our men in uniform when they enforce judicial orders against local political lords holding fort in their capitols.

Although they outnumber the bandits, the enemy has greater familiarity with the terrain. The desperados fight with great ferocity. They kill with lust.

The Abu Sayyaf remnants survived several earlier offensives of this scale. They are battle-hardened veterans of this sort of prolonged skirmishes. They are skilled in guerrilla tactics and are wise in the ways of the bush.

Our troops are supported by American surveillance technologies. The exact methods of support are not too widely disclosed. But it appears the surveillance support has added significantly to the capacity of our troops to locate and destroy the enemy.

The whole region is observing the on-going battle with great interest.

The Abu Sayyaf is seen as the last possible force capable of providing a strong sanctuary for terrorists on the run, terrorists who have committed crimes against humanity. It is part of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network which is, in turn, a subsidiary of the Al Qaeda.

The JI is, as we know, active in Indonesia and Thailand. They threaten Singapore and Malaysia as well. This network has increasing competence to fabricate explosives and detonate them to kill with maximum political impact.

The two militants sheltered by the Abu Sayyaf are directly linked to the Bali bombings. For as long as they remain active, they will be a threat not only to the country but to the entire region.

That they have at all been able to survive this long, sheltered by a fanatical band in the country, is scandal enough. How could such a bandit gang, after all the havoc it wreaked and all the notoriety it won, still flourish within our borders?

This campaign against the Abu Sayyaf is as much about our international credibility as it is about domestic peace and security. For as long as this band, or anything like it, could continue flourishing within our borders, that fact will mock all the fighting words we issue about being ready and able to carry our share of the burden in the global war against terror.

This is why the world watches with great interest as our troops march off to what should be the final battle against the homegrown terrorist band.

It is, for all neighboring governments, completely imponderable that a self-respecting republic as we are could allow itself to be challenged by half-wit bandits capable of threatening the safety of our own people and the whole region.

I should like to believe our government when it says this is the final offensive against the Abus. What they should mean is that, at the end of this offensive, the entire scourge that is the Abu Sayyaf should either be dead or captured.

Preferably dead.

These rascals have caused our nation enough torment. They have murdered far too many and killed with such relish. They constitute an assault not only on our safety but on our civility no less.

There is a price to pay and costs to bear, to be sure, before all the objectives of this campaign are achieved. Brave soldiers of the Republic have died fighting a scourge we should have defeated years ago.

The bandits, to be sure, are not going to help us eradicate them. They will never surrender. They will fight our troops tooth and nail.

We might have to sacrifice a few more brave soldiers before the objective is achieved. But there can be no half-victory here. The battle must be won and the enemy destroyed to the last man.

The credibility of the Republic depends on that.