October 25, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Relief for Abu Sayyaf: AFP to reduce troops in Jolo, by Pablo Carlito,

October 25, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Relief for Abu Sayyaf: AFP to reduce troops in Jolo, by Pablo
Carlito,

THE ARMED Forces of the Philippines is considering reducing the number of troops taking part in a massive operation in Sulu even though the military has yet to complete its mission of crushing the Abu Sayyaf and rescuing their remaining five hostages.

''I think the situation in Jolo has improved a lot since we started that operation so that is one thing we are looking at,'' AFP chief Gen. Angelo Reyes yesterday said in a briefing. But Reyes did not say how many troops would be pulled out from the AFP's Joint Task Force Trident, which is spearheading the mission or give a timetable for the downsizing.

More than 5,000 soldiers and police were deployed to Jolo for the operation began Sept. 16 to rescue 19 hostages, the remnants of a near five-month kidnapping spree by Abu Sayyaf bandits. The operation included air and artillery bombardment of positions of the bandits.

About 600 members of the police Special Action Force have already been pulled out. The operation has led to the recovery of two French journalists and 12 Christian evangelists led by Wilde Almeda. But the Abu Sayyaf still holds three Malaysians, the American Jeffrey Schilling and Roland Ullah, a Filipino who is the last of the hostages taken from the Malaysian island resort of Sipadan last April.

It had ransomed off more than a dozen other hostages for millions of dollars according to independent accounts. The government, however, has denied paying any ransom. Reyes said the AFP ''has all reasons to believe'' that ranking Abu Sayyaf leaders and their remaining hostages were not able to slip through the naval cordon thrown around the island-province and were still in Sulu.

According to the ''combat scoreboard'' issued by Camp Aguinaldo, 74 armed engagements have been recorded from Sept. 16 up to 7 a.m. yesterday. It said government forces had killed 136 Abu Sayyaf gunmen, wounded 11 and captured 124. It added 83 of the bandits had surrendered. It said five soldiers and three civilian volunteers were killed in action, while 17 had been wounded. The Abu Sayyaf had lost 506 pieces of firearms while the government lost only one radio, the scoreboard indicated.

Sporadic clashes between troops and rebels continue. On Monday, soldiers encountered about 20 Abu Sayyaf members led by Ghalib ''Robot'' Andang, who, along with Mujib Susukan, were said to have received about $15 million in ransom for a group of hostages seized in April from Sipadan.

Soldiers recovered ammunition, food and personal belongings from the rebels after an hour's clash, but no casualties were reported. When asked whether there were ongoing negotiations for the release of the remaining hostages, Reyes said: ''The AFP is not party to the negotiations. Our job is to hunt down the kidnappers and try to rescue the kidnap victims.''

The military estimates that the Abu Sayyaf's fighting strength has been reduced to only 300 to 400 gunmen because of desertions following relentless from government forces. At the height of the hostage crisis, the Abu Sayyaf rank was reported to have swelled to a high of 4,000 to 5,000 men.