Raid on suspected Mindanao dens in vain

The Philippine military yesterday intensified its hunt for Indonesian Jemaah Islamiya militants, after security forces raided suspected hideouts of the southeast Asian terror network on the southern Mindanao island but failed to arrest any of its members.

Soldiers and policemen swooped on two alleged JI hideouts in Cotabato City on Sunday, but no arrest was made.

Security forces were pursuing the foreigners, who were believed to have been tipped off about the raid, a security official said yesterday.

"The houses were believed to have been used as hideouts by suspected Indonesian JI militants, but apparently the operation was compromised. And the targets escaped even before the raiders could arrive. There is an ongoing investigation about what went wrong," the official said without further elaborating.

One of the hideouts turned out to be a house owned by an Islamic preacher Kagi Mohammed in the village of Don Sero.

Mohammed's family and relatives denied the house was being used as a JI hideout. The other house is owned by a civilian Jordan Abdullah.

Troops have recovered several documents with drawings of electronic components and official newsletters of the rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).