2,500 troops to finish Abu Sayyaf

Chief of Staff Gregorio Pio Catapang called for a meeting at the Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City, announcing the deployment of five battalions to finish the Abu Sayyaf.

These are tentatively 350 to 500 soldiers per batalion surrounding the Abu Sayyaf islands. These extra troops are only 2,500 of 120,000 Philippine millitary strong population in the Muslim south fighting for peace and order. Thou some of the soldiers have already been fighting for decades, the "all-out law enforcement operation" should encourage younger troops to swipe out the Abu Sayyaf strongholds.

The killing of six soldiers in an ambush by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf in Sumisip town, triggered an all out offensive action to mobilize the threats. As the Governor of the Autonomous Region, Mujiv Hataman mentioned "The concept of the all-out offensive is to mobilize everything to solve the Abu Sayyaf problem".

Governor Mujiv also sighted that the military action is just secondary, asking for a support from the government to fund their primary projects in solving the Abu Sayyaf problem, would be the best key to eliminate the Abu Sayyaf. The primary action is pointed in supporting law enforcement operations for a significant tracking of Abu Sayyaf insurgents and supporters.