ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — The military in Western Mindanao has pushed back its deadline to clear Sulu and Basilan of the Abu Sayyaf.
Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., head of the Western Mindanao Command, said security forces fell short of meeting President Rodrigo Duterte's order to crush the Abu Sayyaf by June because it had to redeploy troops for the Marawi crisis.
Troops from Westmincom had to be sent to join the fight in Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur which Abu Sayyaf and Maute militants besieged from May to October.
"We need to recalibrate our campaign in ZamBaSulTa (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi) considering the troops that we utilized in Marawi are the same troops that we will utilize in these areas," Galvez said.
"Considering we gave them time to rest, we anticipate our Sulu-Basilan operations will start in the first quarter up to the first semester of the year. That's our target," Galvez added.
Galvez said that based on Joint Task Force Sulu's accomplishments, the target could have been achieved had the Marawi siege not happened. The Abu Sayyaf had already lost 264 members in clashes with military with another 142 surrendering to authorities.
He said the Abu Sayyaf had been reduced to around 300 fighters and were one the run from continuous military operations.
Galvez said that despite having to send units to Marawi City, Westmincom managed to contain the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and Basilan.
"Now that we have all the forces that we had, bringing back all the forces to Sulu, I believe we can maintain and sustain the operations," Galvez said.