Rebels beheaded Philippine troops
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RIP to the 14 Filipino Marines.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6290302.stm
14 Marines killed; 10 were beheaded
MILF, Abu join forces in Basilan ambush
By Julie Alipala, Christine Avendaño
Mindanao Bureau, Inquirer
Last updated 02:32am (Mla time) 07/12/2007
LAMITAN CITY -- They were returning to base in heavy rains after a fruitless search for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi when their trucks stalled in the mud. Then the firing began.
In a 10-hour gun battle that turned into a carnage, 14 Marines were killed -- 10 of them beheaded -- and nine others wounded in one of the most shocking military debacles in years in the countryÂ’s southern islands.
“They were surprised when bullets rained on them,” Brig. Gen. Ramiro Alivio told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, recounting Tuesday’s daylong clash between 50 badly outnumbered Marines and some 400 Abu Sayyaf bandits and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas in Albarka municipality (formerly Tipo-tipo) on Basilan island.
The commander of the 1st Marine Brigade based in Basilan province said several enemy combatants were also killed in the one-sided encounter.
A GMA Network television crew which covered the battle described their experience as hellish.
The networkÂ’s video footage of the fighting showed the Marines seeking cover behind their trucks and coconut trees, looking like they were not sure where the shooting was coming from.
The footage also showed soldiers trying to counterattack with a mortar but it would not fire.
Abu Sayyaf ‘signature’
A senior military officer, who did not want to be quoted for lack of authority to speak to the media, said that it was the “signature” of the Abu Sayyaf to behead people.
“Only the Abu Sayyaf is into beheading people,” the officer said in a phone interview.
Branded as a terrorist organization by foreign governments, the Abu Sayyaf has gained international notoriety for decapitating hostages, including American tourist Guillermo Sobero who was beheaded in 2001.
The officer said TuesdayÂ’s ambush was likely a retaliation by the bandits for the death of two of their commanders in an encounter on July 5 with soldiers from the same 1st Marine Brigade.
MILF admits involvement
One of the Abu Sayyaf leaders reportedly killed in that incident was the son of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, who was shot in the mouth.
Late on Tuesday, the Marines initially reported suffering four dead with 10 others missing -- until the headless corpses turned up.
The MILF, with which the Arroyo administration has been engaged in off-and-on peace talks for years, admitted its troops were involved in the fighting in Barangay Ginanta but said they acted in self-defense.
Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, said the military sent troops to Ginanta, a known MILF territory, without proper coordination.
Iqbal said the MILF forces were taken by surprise upon seeing the soldiers and opened fire.
Search for Bossi
Four MILF guerrillas were killed while seven others were wounded in the battle, he said.
Iqbal also admitted that MILF rebels scouring the area after the firefight recovered 11 headless bodies -- compared to AlivioÂ’s figure of 10 -- and turned these over to the authorities.
Iqbal could not explain why the soldiers were beheaded.
“I received the report that our troops beheaded seven Marines,” Iqbal said. “We are investigating and determining the identities of those involved. We have an existing policy not to harm any captured enemy.”
Alivio said the soldiers were part of a search-and-rescue effort for Fr. Bossi, 57, who was abducted in Payao town, Zamboanga Sibugay province, on June 10.
There has been no word on the whereabouts of the priest since he was taken by armed men after saying Sunday Mass.
Stuck in the mud
The Basilan fighting would seem to support, at least on surface, earlier reports that BossiÂ’s captors might have already moved him out of Zamboanga Sibugay.
“They must be hiding something there,” Alivio said, referring to the intensity of Tuesday’s attack on the Marines.
On July 3, his abductors sent out photos of the kidnapped priest, which led the military to suspect he was now being hidden in Basilan.
Alivio said the Marine soldiers, who rode on three military trucks, were on their way back to their headquarters in Campo Uno here after an operation in connection with the Bossi kidnapping when they were ambushed.
“One of the three trucks got stuck in mud. It was then raining hard and that made the movement of the soldiers quite difficult,” he said.
‘We were outnumbered’
Alivio said the soldiers were moving ahead slowly when they were fired upon by about 400 gunmen, who he said belonged to the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf.
Alivio said the soldiers retaliated and the heavy firefight lasted for about 10 hours.
Alivio said the headless bodies “were (those of) the missing soldiers during the firefight.”
“We were outnumbered, that’s the reason we suffered heavy casualties,” Alivio said.
TuesdayÂ’s casualties were the most the military had suffered in a single encounter in recent years. In 2005, 12 soldiers were killed in a clash with the Abu Sayyaf in Patikul town in Sulu province.
Marine officials in Manila said they still had no information on whether the MILF was responsible for the “treacherous” ambush.
Marines spokesperson Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan blamed “lawless elements” and the Abu Sayyaf for the ambush.
“Definitely, there will be some actions and investigations as to what really happened Tuesday,” Caculitan told reporters.
“If there was participation of some MILF members, then we would have to seek the intervention of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) considering that the government and the MILF are currently holding peace talks and we have a ceasefire,” he said.
Acts of ‘barbarism’
Told that MILF officials were blaming the military for not coordinating with them when they entered the MILF area, Caculitan said while the area might have been MILF, a lapse in coordination was “not a go-signal to consider attacking Marine troops.”
He said it was possible that the firefight, which started at 10 a.m., lasted long because “other lawless groups” joined in, “considering blood relations and other connections in the community.”
“It was very treacherous ... our vehicles were even torched,” Caculitan said.
The Abu Sayyaf also provoked outrage and disgust from Islamic scholars and ordinary Filipinos when they beheaded seven workers in Jolo in April this year. Malacañang branded that incident “an act of barbarism.”
In 2000, the same group of bandits beheaded two school teachers as a “birthday gift” to then President Joseph Estrada after the government rejected rebel demands in exchange for the release of hostages they were holding.
In June 2001, the Abu Sayyaf beheaded Sobero as an “Independence Day gift” to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
There have been a number of low points in the history of military efforts to stamp out the Abu Sayyaf as well as the communist rebels.
In May 2000, Abu Sayyaf bandits killed 13 soldiers in BasilanÂ’s Lantawan town, mutilating some of the corpses.
In August 2000, the military suffered one of the biggest losses in the war against insurgents when communist New PeopleÂ’s Army rebels killed 17 soldiers in fighting in Himamaylan town in Negros Occidental province.
In November 2001, NPA guerrillas ambushed an Army unit in Compostela Valley province, killing 18 soldiers.
In February 2005, Moro National Liberation Front guerrillas killed 13 Marines in an ambush in Patikul, Sulu. With reports from PDI Research, Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao, and Reuters -
Actual tv footage shows even with a couple of V150 APC, motars support ( they actually fails to fire off ), a few helicopter gunships, the marines still fails to fight their way out.
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If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Having equipment is just the start of things, if you have no plan on how or what to do during an ambush, or the wrong plan... things can still go wrong pretty quickly.
Now imagine you have a truck stuck in mud and a "get back to base mentality". And you get the picture. -
Senior ranking of the PAF are trying to 'cover up' the misfiring motar.
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the question is, how were the marines armed?
GPMG? section weaps? any standoff weaps? -
Time to let the Marines enjoy a free-of-ROE week. Get the gloves off.
Sometimes beasts only understand pure violence, violence targeted not at them, but their village. -
is there any APC?
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I think its a pretty awful tragedy on a personal scale. I don't really expect guerrillas to follow the the Geneva Convention but still its a lil overboard. *Salutes dead Marines*
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seemed like the ambush was in an area where it was not expected to get hit. FUBA.
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this is inhumane
although they may be your enermies, but at least let them die without suffering. -
A couple of V150 APC. And they do have helicopter gunship as air support.Originally posted by mr_sotong:is there any APC?
Video footage of Philippine ambush:
http://www.gmanews.tv/largevideo/related/8982/Marines-engage-MILF-rebels-in-7-hour-battle-in-Basilan
http://www.gmanews.tv/largevideo/related/9008/MILF-wants-beheading-of-Marines-probed -
One of the APC Commander is a Lady Officer 2LT WENG.
http://www.gmanews.tv/largevideo/related/9027/Lady-officer-among-Marines-in-Basilan-battle -
The beheadings by the rebels is to instill fear among the Marines....such as.....dun play play with us rebels ...we are merciless you noe..that kind of crap.Originally posted by fallin:I think its a pretty awful tragedy on a personal scale. I don't really expect guerrillas to follow the the Geneva Convention but still its a lil overboard. *Salutes dead Marines*
In reality.....this will only instill much hatred and vengence on the entire Marine corp. I dun expect the Marines to give any quarter to the rebels in future encounters......they will just kill em all and perhaps go to the extreme of mutilating the rebels bodies too.......
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Actually the whole thing sounded very confusing.
Let me see if I got it right:
The AFP (Armed Forces of Philippines) and MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) - are supposed to be at truce.
So the MILF accused the AFP of entering their area without asking for permission and taking their MILF troops "by surprise".
The news report posted was quite confusing as it said the clash involved both MILF and Abu Sayyaf troops. MILF admitted to participating in the fight but gave credit for the beheadings to Abu Sayyaf.
Abu Sayyaf and MILF are both Islamic but I didn't know they were allies and operated together?
Did anyone else get the same story or did I read wrong? -
X2 whats with that ?Originally posted by chino65:Actually the whole thing sounded very confusing.
Let me see if I got it right:
The AFP (Armed Forces of Philippines) and MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) - are supposed to be at truce.
So the MILF accused the AFP of entering their area without asking for permission and taking their MILF troops "by surprise".
The news report posted was quite confusing as it said the clash involved both MILF and Abu Sayyaf troops. MILF admitted to participating in the fight but gave credit for the beheadings to Abu Sayyaf.
Abu Sayyaf and MILF are both Islamic but I didn't know they were allies and operated together?
Did anyone else get the same story or did I read wrong? -
It may instill hatred in some but surely it will frighten some of the troopers, too.Originally posted by FireAndHell:The beheadings by the rebels is to instill fear among the Marines....such as.....dun play play with us rebels ...we are merciless you noe..that kind of crap.
In reality.....this will only instill much hatred and vengence on the entire Marine corp. I dun expect the Marines to give any quarter to the rebels in future encounters......they will just kill em all and perhaps go to the extreme of mutilating the rebels bodies too.......
They don't have a clear mandate against the rebels. The AFP, its leaders, and the country's leaders is too weak to crush any of the rebel groups even though they only number a few thousand armed members each.
Worse still, the AFP had often been accused of duplicity having all kinds of shady deals and private arrangements with the rebel groups.
The worst is that AFP troopers sell arms and ammo to the rebels.
And during the well-publicised pursuit of Abu Sayyaf rebels holding American hostages, the AFP was accused of purposely letting them escape.
In this damning report, a former hostage of the ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) accused the AFP of letting the ASG escape cos they "shared the ransome money".
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/08/25/phil.kidnapper/
I always say don't believe everything you read but apparently Filipino congreeemen are also making this accusation.
The motherless generals of the AFP are on the take from the rebels and stealing from their own funds for equipment, while the AFP troopers get their heads lobbed off. -
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/07/08/phil.basilan.abusayyaf/
Any interesting study of the Basilan rebel groups. -
It's not that hard to slip in a few "training detachments" from a MEU into Basilan.
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Even got mortar... but all cannot fire.. KNN.. they all use expire ammo isitz?Originally posted by beavan:the question is, how were the marines armed?
GPMG? section weaps? any standoff weaps?
no wonder kenna slaughter.. -
The mortar did fire in some of the footage.Originally posted by Paladin:Even got mortar... but all cannot fire.. KNN.. they all use expire ammo isitz? no wonder kenna slaughter..
For all you know, only a couple of rounds were duds but the news footage focused on that 2 duds.
But since they were so badly outnumbered, one tube of vintage US 60mm mortar not firing will make no big difference. The V-150's kept firing but the outcome was the same.
The problem with a such a well-laid jungle ambush is that the guerillas have their fields of fire worked out and they know where to shoot without exposing themselves.
The AFP, most of the time was shooting at shadows as they couldn't see where the enemy was coming from.
Their air support was probably poorly-armed and co-ordinated or once there they can't operate effectively due to low light and foliage.
The only thing to do in such a situation will be to get out of the kill zone.
But I think the Marines underestimated the opposing force. The Marines weren't exactly poorly-armed as they had some armoured escort so they thought they could fight it out. Or once engaged, the guerillas were able to quickly call in great numbers of reinforcements. -
I am not surprised if those 60mm were bought from the SAF when it became obsolete in the early 80s.These guys may be Marines but their morale is rock bottom in Mindanao.Military commanders there can suka suka make truce with rebels and they dont even like each other at times...they have lall ost their heads already.
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Sorry, I looked again, 81mm mortars, not 60.
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how do you possibly use 81mm in that kind of fire fight?Originally posted by chino65:Sorry, I looked again, 81mm mortars, not 60. -
Would our SAF ADF or CDOs do better if ambushed?
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When you are ambushed you are totaly FARKED!!! we do anti ambush drills in training but in reality "TOTALLY FARKED"Originally posted by seancannot:Would our SAF ADF or CDOs do better if ambushed?