KEY Thread U.S kidnapping warning

15 Philippine scouts in full battle gear just walked down our beach in San Miguel..heading toward bacong.... Good to see them patrolling here while they flush the rest of the vermin out of Bohol...\

 

Heard them also going over Malatapay but did not bother to go outside to look, sounded like two or more to me... Continued on South towards Siaton.

 

They where AW109s

 

2 Bodies recovered after Bohol clash not Abu Sayyaf members—Villagers​

By: Leo Udtohan - Correspondent / @leoudtohanINQ

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 03:49 PM April 13, 2017

INABANGA, Bohol – Do the five bodies recovered by the military really belong to the bandit group Abu Sayyaf?

Not all, according to residents of remote village of Napo, Inabanga where alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf entered on Monday afternoon and engaged the joint military and police team in heavy gunfight that lasted for more than 24 hours.

Constancio Petalco, 65, and his wife Crisenta were among the bodies recovered by the military in Sitio Ylaya, Barangay Napo, and were identified as suspected Abu Sayyaf members.

But Columbus Estoce, village chief of Napo, said the Petalco couple were residents of their village and were not members of the bandit group.

“They are not members of Abu Sayyaf. They are residents (of the village),” said Estoce in an interview over dyTR News in Tagbilaran City.

When reached for comment, Captain Jojo Mascariñas, spokesman of the 302 Brigade, said the authorities were looking into reports about the incident.

“An investigation will be conducted by the police to identify them and their involvement of the group,” he told Inquirer on the phone.

But since they died in the area where the Abu Sayyaf were spotted, he added the two were tagged as members of the bandit group.

A Facebook post of Ronila Sabijon Kudemos showed the photos of Constancio and another body inside a body bag whom she said were her uncle and aunt.

As she sought justice for the couple, she wrote that the two were held hostage and killed but it was never reported. It was not clear in the post who killed the couple.

The post, however, had 2,727 shares, more than 1,100 reactions and more than 90 comments as of 1:20 p.m. on Thursday.

Petalco was the uncle of Joselito Melloria who was seen by residents escorting at least 10 heavily armed men in the village on Monday afternoon whom he described as his guests.

These were the armed men, who engaged the military and police in a heavy firefight and targets of at least 10 airstrikes.

They were later tagged as members of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group who were suspected of planning to stage terror activities in nearby islands.

The gun battle forced at least 3,000 residents from Napo and neighboring villages to evacuate.

But several residents, including the Petalcos, were seen going back to their house, said Estoce.

Some returned to get their belongings but in the case of Constancio, he went back to get his wife who could not walk properly and was packing their things for the evacuation.

But the two were hit during the crossfire, said the village chief.

“They were just trapped there (in the middle of the heavy gunfire),” he said.

Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, police director for Central Visayas, said on Wednesday that Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Rami was among the five alleged members of the bandit group who were killed in the firefight.

Mascariñas said Joselito Melloria was among the fatalities although like Rami, they had to verify his identity first after processing his body.

Government troops seized high-powered firearms: one M4 rifle, two M16 a1 rifles, 1 caliber .45 Norinco pistol, 1 M203 ammunition and 1 81mm mortar cartridge.

Also recovered in the area were two short housing magazine assembly, 3 detonating cord, 1 galva tester, 1 icom radio, 1 flashlight, 2 remote control radio, 49 blasting caps, 1 blasting cap with cord, 1 flash light, 2 remote control radio, 49 blasting caps, 1 blasting cap with cord, 2 surgical forcep, 1 plastic container, 1 switch board, 5 koran, 1 electric soldering iron, 27 glue stick, 8 IED Assembly, 1 electrical cutter, 1 scissor, 1 small screw driver, 1 LED component, 22 silicon SCR, 4 relay 12 volts, 8 slide switch, 86 red lights, 46 resistors, 3 cellphone battery, 2 pressure clip, 10 Christmas light bulbs, 3 pump boats, and other devices to make bombs. JE

2 bodies recovered after Bohol clash not Abu Sayyaf members—villagers

 

Senior Abu Sayyaf leader bares plan to surrender​

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The most senior Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf leader is wishing to surrender, according to security official on Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., commander of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said Radullan Sahiron wants to turn himself in to authorities because "he is already old."

Sahiron, a one-armed bandit leader, is known as the most senior Abu Sayyaf leader based in Sulu and wanted by the US Department of Justice for a bounty of $1 million.

Galvez said the surrender plan of Sahiron was relayed by elderly Muslim leaders from Sulu following relentless military offensives.

Sahiron, however, has reportedly set conditions for his surrender, which includes remaining under Philippine authorities' custody.

"Sahiron wants to surrender provided he will not be turned over to the US or other countries," Galvez said.

Nation ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
US interest on Sahiron is believed to have stemmed from his participation in the kidnapping of American national Jeffry Schilling during the late 1990s in Sulu.

The news of Sahiron's plan came after several Abu Sayyaf members from Basilan and Tawi-Tawi chose to yield. The number of militant bandits from the group who surrendered to lawmen already reached 50 since last year.

Last Tuesday, there were 11 Abu Sayyaf gunmen from Tawi-Tawi who surrendered.

Galvez said another one also yielded last month in Sulu, an area where the Abu Sayyaf militants are concentrated.

"For the first time meron nag-surrender sa Sulu. Ever since walang nag-surrender na Abu Sayyaf," Galvez said.

 

Comments section is interesting below the story, most certainly not gaining any friends that is for sure...

Death of Abu Rami is sort of bad news for some Sulu folk​

ZAMBOANGA CITY – A Robinhood in Sulu is dead.

The death of Muammar Askali alias Abu Rami is, in a way, bad news for some communities in Sulu that had benefitted from the ransom money he got from kidnappings.

A source confirmed that it was Muammar Askali who was killed in Bohol.

“We knew him,” said the source, who claimed he knew Muammar since he was a student at the Notre Dame for Boys in Jolo town, but lost track of him when he entered college.

“We don’t know if he took up college in Sulu or somewhere else,” the source said.

Askali was a son of a policeman and a teacher in Jolo. He married a young woman whose family was known to be involved in kidnapping activities, the source added.

“He was not really identified as an Abu Sayyaf fighter. He was a leader of the Ajang-Ajang Group, a very notorious and extremist group that beheads captives,” he added.

The source added that he saw Askali last year in Blue Shark Hotel in Zamboanga City.

“And before this report about Bohol came out, we had several friends who sent Malaysian-made noodles to him, and advised him to leave the kidnapping and beheading,” the source said.

In previous phone interviews made by the Inquirer with Askali, he confirmed receiving P250 Million ransom for German couple Stefan Viktor Okonek and Henrike Dielen; P20 Million for the liberty of Filipina Maritess Flor; and P30 Million for Kjartan Sekkingstad.

But where does the ransom money go?

The source said Askali used part of the money “feeding communities.”

“They need the money to silence the community to get their loyalty. That’s how it works there in Sulu,” he said.

“And I guess he went to Bohol to get new captives,” he added.

The source said Askali and his group would not be bringing firearms with them if they went to Bohol for a vacation.

Read more: Death of Abu Rami is sort of bad news for some Sulu folk

 

From a relative of my wife I heard that ASG was fighting against NPA in the mountains of St. Catalina and Bayawan. There is no proof for these but it can not be denied also. I'm wondering what ASG is wanting or attempting in that location.

 

I thought this was a decent analysis of the Bohol incident. BTW, I wasn't really too sure about the veracity of Rappler, but apparently the author is a respected journalist and the website itself seems to get pretty good reviews.
Bad or good intel: 5 questions on Abu Sayyaf presence in Bohol