AFP: Eventually, Sayyaf’s luck will run out

MANILA, Philippines - Combined security forces now running after the Abu Sayyaf are confident that the bandits will eventually run out of luck and pay for the beheading of German hostage Juergen Kantner.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Eduardo Año said he expects contact between government troops and the bandits anytime.

“There’s an ongoing operation and we expect positive results anytime,” he said.

Año said the troops are more determined to go after the Abu Sayyaf after they beheaded Kantner last Sunday.

Kantner and his companion Sabine Merz were taken captive in November on their 53-foot yacht near Sabah, eastern Malaysia, and brought to Jolo, Sulu.

Merz was shot dead when she tried to resist the militants.

On Sunday, the bandits beheaded Kantner after the deadline for the P30-million ransom demand had lapsed.

Año earlier said the troops were close to rescuing Kantner and other hostages were it not for the firefight that broke out with the Abu Sayyaf gunmen.

Año said the troops were working on an intelligence report that located Kantner and his captors in a remote village in Indanan, Sulu a day before the beheading.

Año said the German captive was immediately spirited out of the area by gunmen led by Abu Rami, while the rest of bandits led by Radulan Sahiron engaged government troops in a firefight.

AFP Public Affairs Office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said the bandits were just lucky to slip off during the firefight with government troops.

“It will be soon when they will run out of luck. Our troops will in the end prevail over this force of evil,” Arevalo said.

He said the AFP has the best commanders and soldiers with only one mission – to destroy the Abu Sayyaf and rescue the remaining hostages.

The government has deployed thousands of troops in the Abu Sayyaf strongholds of Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Jolo islands, yet despite air and ground offensives, the bandit group’s piracy and kidnappings continue unabated.

The bandits are entrenched in local communities, complicating operations by a military that is wary of incurring civilian casualties.

Mindanao lawmakers said the Abu Sayyaf strongholds had become smaller, forcing the bandits to escape to the mainland.

Anak Mindanao party-list Rep. Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman said some of the bandits are going to the Lanao provinces to escape the military offensive against them.

“The engagement between the military and the local officials has been very effective so the natural tendency for the bandits is to go out and escape,” she said.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Ansaruddin Adiong said the Abu Sayyaf are not Muslims.

He said kidnapping and beheading their captives are anti-Islam and barbaric.

“These acts of terrorism are not in accordance with Islamic religion or way of life to which we, as representatives of our people here in the Philippines, belong. We are making this statement lest the rest of the country and the world would perceive our people to consent to, encourage or support such brutal barbaric acts done not only to a foreigner but to any innocent person,” Adiong told a news conference on behalf of the Muslim lawmakers led by House Deputy Speaker Bai Sandra Sema and Reps. Ruby Sahali of Tawi-Tawi, Munir Arbison of Sulu and Mauyag Papandayan of Lanao del Sur.

“We call on all Muslims to pray to Allah so that the Bangsamoro homeland will be protected from the effects of these evil acts of terrorism. We are also requesting our non-Muslim brothers and sisters to pray for us as we lead our people in attaining peace in our homeland,” they added. – With Delon Porcalla