Manila - The Philippine navy will deploy additional troops
to the conflict-wracked southern region of Mindanao to augment forces
battling threat groups, especially al-Qaeda-linked Muslim militants,
officials said Friday.
The navy will also be dispatching two more multi-purpose attack
seacraft to the region to help patrol the seas, navy chief Vice
Admiral Ferdinand Golez said.
Golez said the deployments were in response to 'the need for
increased tempo of operations in the area' amid increasing
hostilities from Muslim separatist rebels and militants linked with
the al Qaeda terrorist network.
Navy spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo said the
additional troops of around 600 officers and soldiers will be
deployed to Jolo island and Basilan province.
Both Jolo and Basilan are strongholds of the Abu Sayyaf rebel
group, which has ties with al Qaeda and the Indonesia-based Jemaah
Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group.
'The intensified drive to flush the Abu Sayyaf bandits and other
lawless groups from their lairs takes a sharp turn in favour of the
government with this fresh input of a batallion of battle-hardened
marines,' he said.
Abu Sayyaf rebels have been holding captive an Italian Red Cross
worker in the jungles of Jolo since January. Eugenio Vagni was
abducted with two other colleagues, a Swiss and a Filipino, who were
freed separately in April.
Aside from high-profile kidnappings, the guerrillas have also been
blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines.
They are believed to be working and training with JI operatives in
Mindanao.
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