World | Philippines
Abu Sayyaf militants begin using teenagers as assassins
Filipino militants have begun to use teenagers as assassins in their effort to further push their war against President Gloria Arroyo's government, the military said on Wednesday.
- By Claro Cortes, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 July 19, 2006
Manila: Filipino militants have begun to use teenagers as assassins in their effort to further push their war against President Gloria Arroyo's government, the military said on Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Alexander Aleo, Joint Task Force Comet chief, said four soldiers were killed by the Abu Sayyaf Group's liquidation squad, composed mostly of recruits aged 16 to 20 years, in the past two weeks.
It was apparently copied from local communist guerrillas who have also been accused of using child warriors in its effort to topple Arroyo.
The communists have been fighting the Manila government for 37 years.
"These trainees are very young. We presume that the Abu Sayyaf Group is now tapping young fighters for extortion, harassment and liquidation," Aleo said.
He cited reports saying that the latest recruitment, led by a Muslim convert identified as Joselito Nasara, alias Abu Sofian, was held in the hinterlands of Indanan town in Sulu on the southern tip of Mindanao island.
Army regional spokesman Captain Jose Ritchie Pabilonia said two Army soldiers and one Air Force soldier were killed early this month.
Privates First Class Nawali and Sahi of the 35th Infantry Battalion were ambushed and killed in Indanan on July 1, while Air Force Sgt Pablito Rabano was shot dead in Jolo.
Another soldier was assassinated also in Jolo on July 16.
"They are just trying to make their presence felt," Aleo said of the attacks.
The military, he said, was addressing the problem "by also striking the same approach. We make sure we have the target, then we strike."
On Tuesday, two policemen were killed while three others were wounded in an ambush by another suspected Abu Sayyaf band in Maimbung town, also in Jolo.
Soldiers and police are pursuing the Abu Sayyaf group involved in the Maimbung attack.
Two officers who were reported missing after the attack on Tuesday outside Maimbung town in Jolo were later found unharmed, police said.
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