Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines: Difference between revisions
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Much of the mission (Exercise Balikatan 02-1) took place on the island of [[Basilan]], a stronghold of [[Abu Sayyaf]]. |
Much of the mission (Exercise Balikatan 02-1) took place on the island of [[Basilan]], a stronghold of [[Abu Sayyaf]]. |
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==Timeline |
==Timeline== |
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On [[February 21]], [[2002]], the largest loss of life for U.S. forces occurred when 10 soldiers were killed after their [[CH-47 Chinook|MH-47]] crashed at sea in the southern [[Philippines]]. |
On [[February 21]], [[2002]], the largest loss of life for U.S. forces occurred when 10 soldiers were killed after their [[CH-47 Chinook|MH-47]] crashed at sea in the southern [[Philippines]]. |
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On [[October 2]], [[2002]], an explosion at an open-air market outside the gate of Camp Enrile Malagutay in [[Zamboanga]] killed a U.S. special forces soldier |
On [[October 2]], [[2002]], an explosion at an open-air market outside the gate of Camp Enrile Malagutay in [[Zamboanga]] killed a U.S. special forces soldier |
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{{main|2004 SuperFerry 14 bombing}} |
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On [[February 27]], [[2004]], SuperFerry 14 was bombed and sunk in the [[Manila Bay]]. 116 people were killed and it was the worst terrorist attack at sea in history. Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for the attack. |
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In 2005 and 2006 renewed fighting between the government forces and Abu Sayyaf guerillas allied with the [[New People's Army]] (NPA) hit the south of the Philippines. At the end of 2006 the NPA is estimated to have 7,000 fighters while Abu Sayyaf has 2,000. |
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{{main|2007 Basilan beheading incident}} |
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On [[July 10]]-[[July 11|11]], [[2007]], Marines entered guerilla territory in an attempt to save Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi, who was being held as a hostage. The operation ended in disaster: 14 Marines were killed, with 10 of them beheaded. |
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In [[August 2008]], a cease-fire deal which had been holding barely since [[2003]] seemed to have colapsed with Muslim rebels going on a rampage in villages in the south, hacking to death 44 civilians. The rampage started in retaliation to military operations against the rebels. The military responded to the killings with a wide-scalle operation which resulted in the capture and destruction of some 15 rebel camps. 17 Filipino soldiers and 5 pro-government militiamen were killed along with at least 141 rebels in the fighting between [[August 11]] and [[August 25]], another 64 soldiers were wounded. At least another 60 civilians were killed in the military offensive, 20 of them in the town of Piagapo.<ref>{{Citation |
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|url=http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/20080826/tap-as-philippines-muslim-rebels-2nd-ld-fe2a5de.html |
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|title=Philippines dissolves panel in talks with rebels |
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|author=Jim Gomez |
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|publisher=Yahoo News |
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|date=4 September 2008 |
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|accessdate=2008-09-07}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |
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|url=http://ph.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080827/tap-oukwd-uk-philippines-rebels-5858a4e.html |
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|title=Over 180 killed so far in Philippine fighting |
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|author=Reuters |
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|date=27 August 2008 |
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|publisher=Yahoo News |
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|accessdate=2008-09-07}}</ref> |
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Between [[January 1]] and [[October 31]], [[2008]], the government claimed that the NPA killed up to 94 civilians while conducting summary killings of people they perceived as pro-government.<ref>http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20081205%5cACQDJON200812050325DOWJONESDJONLINE000471.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=Rebels%20Killed%2094%20Civilians%20In%20Philippines%20This%20Year%20-%20Government</ref> |
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On [[December 7]], [[2008]], the Army attacked Abu Sayyaf positions on the islands of Basilan and Jolo. The fighting resulted in the deaths of 24 soldiers and an unknown number of militants. Another 16 soldiers were wounded.<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081208/ts_afp/philippinesunrestattacks_081208014500</ref> |
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On [[March 28]], [[2009]], more heavy fighting ensued in a remote village called Bialong in the province of Maguindanao. 20 MILF rebels and seven soldiers were killed after soldiers, who were on a route-clearence mission, encountered a group of 80 heavily armed militants.<ref>http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6624476.html</ref> |
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==Combatants== |
==Combatants== |
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Revision as of 18:44, 8 April 2009
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2007) |
Template:Campaignbox War on Terror Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines (OEF-P) is part of Operation Enduring Freedom and the U.S. Global War on Terrorism[1]. About 500 U.S. military personnel are advising and assisting the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the Southern Philippines. In addition, the CIA has sent it's elite paramilitary officers from their Special Activities Division to hunt down and kill or capture key terrorist leaders. This group has had the most success in combating and capturing Al-Qaeda leaders and the leaders of associated groups like Abu Sayyaf. [2]
Special Operations Command-Pacific (SOCPAC) troops are the core of Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines (OEF-P), an operation which supports the Government of the Republic of the Philippines counterterrorism efforts. With U.S. advice and training, the AFP and civilian authorities have improved their ability to coordinate and sustain counterterrorism operations. U.S. and Philippine forces have also worked together under the new Security Engagement Board framework – the primary mechanism for consultation and planning regarding non-traditional security threats – to complete humanitarian and civil assistance projects and improve living conditions in the southern Philippines. As a result of their combined efforts, support for terrorists has waned markedly.
Deployment first began January 2002 and involved more than 1,200 members of United States Special Operations Command, Pacific (SOCPAC), headed by Brig. Gen. Donald C. Wurster. SOCPAC's deployable joint task force HQ, Joint Task Force 510 (JTF 510), directed and carried out the operation.
The mission was to advise the Armed Forces of the Philippines in combating terrorism in the Philippines.[3] Much of the mission (Exercise Balikatan 02-1) took place on the island of Basilan, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf.
Timeline
On February 21, 2002, the largest loss of life for U.S. forces occurred when 10 soldiers were killed after their MH-47 crashed at sea in the southern Philippines.
On October 2, 2002, an explosion at an open-air market outside the gate of Camp Enrile Malagutay in Zamboanga killed a U.S. special forces soldier
Combatants
| This section titled "Combatants" needs additional citations for verification. (January 2008) |
Armed Forces of the Philippines
Elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are deployed in Mindanao to deal with Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah. This deployment is controversial because of the presence of U.S trainers who are accused by Abu Sayyaf of being "traitorous scum coming to prop the autocratic and illegal government of the Phillipines"
United States Armed Forces
| This section titled "United States Armed Forces" needs additional citations for verification. (January 2008) |
The United States has provided the Philippine government with advisors, equipment and financial support to counter Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah.
Abu Sayyaf
The Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is deemed a "foreign terrorist organization" by the United States government. Specifically, it is an Islamist separatist group based in and around the southern islands of the Republic of the Philippines, primarily Jolo, Basilan, and Mindanao.
Since inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and extortion in their fight for an independent Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, with a claimed overarching goal of creating a Pan-Islamic superstate across the Malay portions of Southeast Asia, spanning, from east to west, the large island of Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago (Basilan and Jolo islands), the large island of Borneo (Malaysia and Indonesia), the South China Sea, and the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand and Burma).
The name of the group is Arabic for Father (Abu) of the Sword (Sayyaf).
Jemaah Islamiyah
Jemaah Islamiyah is a militant Islamic terrorist organization dedicated to the establishment of a fundamentalist Islamic theocracy in Southeast Asia, in particular Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, the south of Thailand and the Philippines.
Jemaah Islamiyah is thought to have killed hundreds of civilians and is suspected of having executed the Bali car bombing on October 12, 2002 in which suicide bombers killed 202 people, mostly Australian tourists, and wounded many in a nightclub. After this attack, the U.S. State Department designated Jemaah Islamiyah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Jemaah Islamiyah is also suspected of carrying out the Zamboanga bombings, the Rizal Day Bombings, the 2004 Jakarta embassy bombing and the 2005 Bali terrorist bombing.
Financial links between Jemaah Islamiyah and other terrorist groups, such as Abu Sayyaf and al-Qaeda, have been found to exist.[4] Jemaah Islamiyah means "Islamic Group" and is often abbreviated JI.
Balikatan training exercises
The Balikatan training exercises are a part of Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines which is mainly a series of joint training exercises between the Philippines and the United States. These training exercises are mainly taking place in Mindanao, the Spratly Islands, Tarlac, and other parts in the Philippines. The Balikatan training exercises are focused on joint training and counter-terrorist training aimed on strengthening relations between the Philippines and the United States. The Balikatan training exercises are also aimed on training Philippine forces to fight the Abu Sayyaf, Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front.
There have been allegations in the Philippine press and elsewhere that visiting forces from the United States appear to have become a permanent fixture in the landscape of Zamboanga City and other crisis-torn parts of Mindanao. Philippine presidential executive secretary Eduardo Ermita has responded to these allegations by saying, that the U.S. soldiers "... all look alike so it’s as if they never leave," going on to say that they "... are replaced every now and then. They leave, contrary to the critics’ impression that they have not left". These remarks were made in response to statements made by Edgar Araojo, a political science professor at Western Mindanao State University, that the country had surrendered its sovereignty. In specific response, Ermita said, "Our national sovereignty and territorial integrity are intact", going on to point out that the Balikatan exercises had bolstered national and regional security, and to say that terrorists and communist rebels were "common enemies of democracy, therefore there is nothing wrong with cooperation" between the armed forces of the US and the Philippines.[5]
See also
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References and notes
- ^ "Flashpoint, No bungle in the jungle". armedforcesjournal.com. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
- ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article826047.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1
- ^ "Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
- ^ Zachary Abuza (December, 2003), Funding Terrorism in Southeast Asia: The Financial Network of Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah (PDF), vol. 1, National Bureau of Asian Research, retrieved 2008-01-27
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Michael Lim Ubac (7 September 2008), Palace: GIs all look alike, Philippine Daily Inquirer, retrieved 2008-09-07