AFP seeks more US aid vs Abus

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is asking for more equipment, particularly surveillance gear, from the United States to speed up the rescue of American couple Martin and Gracia Burnham from the extremist group Abu Sayyaf.

Lt. Gen. Jose Mabanta, Army spokesman, said they badly need to improve their night-fighting capability due to the difficult terrain on the island where the Abu Sayyaf is hiding.

"We need to upgrade our equipment. What we have are mostly first-generation gear," Mabanta said.

Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, chief of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command, earlier informed a visiting American congressman that the AFP needs surveillance equipment for use in the dense jungles of Basilan.

Cimatu told Republican Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Kansas that Filipino troops are very much capable of battling the extremist and they are only hindered by lack of modern equipment.

President Arroyo received Tiahrt at Malacañang Tuesday night and assured him that her government and the military are doing everything possible to safely rescue the Burnhams, a missionary couple, said Press Undersecretary Roberto Capco.

"It was our understanding that the congressman was satisfied with the explanations of the government. He was told that 43 officers and enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces have been killed in the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf," Capco said.

The Burnhams, along with Filipina nurse Deborah Yap, are the last remaining hostages from dozens seized by the Abu Sayyaf in a kidnapping spree last year.

Tiahrt arrived Sunday after the Burnhams were not rescued before the Christmas target date set by the military for recovering the hostages.

He held talks with Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and top military officers at the Southcom headquarters in Zamboanga City and said his mission here had the blessing of Martin Burnham’s parents, who are his constituents in Kansas.

Tiahrt earlier said he would press Mrs. Arroyo to allow US troops to join combat operations of some 5,000 Filipino soldiers already scouring Basilan for the hostages and their captors.

The President and top military officers, however, turned down his proposal, citing a law disallowing foreign troops from combat operations in the country without congressional approval.

American military advisers have been training Filipino counter-terrorism units as well as helping analyze intelligence data against the Abu Sayyaf, a small band of self-styled Islamic fighters believed to have links with international terrorist Osama bin Laden, the main suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks in the US mainland.

The US has committed more than $100 million in military assistance to the AFP. A training camp for elite units will be set up in Zamboanga City this month, with training to start on Jan. 15.

In the meeting with Tiahrt, Cimatu showed the American congressman a relief map of Basilan and said the thick vegetation in the island has made fighting hard for troops hunting the Abu Sayyaf. He said the fighting usually is done at night and rescue work is often delayed by inclement weather.

"We do not want a situation where the operation is successful but the hostages are all dead," he said.

Cimatu requested Tiahrt for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which are operated by remote control just like model airplanes. These vehicles carry a camera that can take video footage in the dark.

Mabanta, meanwhile, said they have several locally assembled prototypes of these UAVs being tested at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, but the results remain inconclusive.

"These prototypes were conceptualized and tested by the Army Modernization Office as early as two years ago," he said.

Mabanta added that elite units of the AFP, such as the Light Reaction Company, the Scout Rangers and the Special Forces, have night-vision and thermal-imaging equipment but these are older models which are too bulky and heavy for the soldiers.

He recalled that an old thermal-imaging equipment was seized by the Abu Sayyaf from the Special Forces in an ambush last year. The equipment, he said was recovered by soldiers in a raid several months later.

Army Capt. Noel Detoyato, acting Southcom spokesman, said elite troops are now trying to seal off all possible escape routes of the Abu Sayyaf which is believed to be holed up in Sampinit town in Basilan.

He said the troops have been trying to zero-in on the location of the bandits, but the latter have been very mobile.

"Our men are really trying to establish their targets and what they need is a visual contact of the enemy before we can effect the rescue," he said.

Detoyato added that regular troops who opted not to take a break during the holidays had remained in their posts nears the foot of the thickly forested hill where the bandits are believed to be holding camp. – With reports from Marichu Villanueva, Roel Pareño