VOL. XXX NO. 14 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 wedNeSday : FeBRUaRy 24, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph
‘People Power only aided Aquinos’
A4
foreign jihAdist, 4 soLdiers kiLLed By Francisco Tuyay
AN INdoNesIAN jihadist, 24 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and four Army soldiers were killed in heavy fighting since saturday as part of a three-week offensive against the bandit group in various parts of Mindanao. The Indonesian terrorist was identified by a source as Mohammad Muktar, who was operating under the BIFF’s Abdullah Maka-
paar, alias Commander Bravo. The Indonesian and two local bandits were killed after soldiers from the Army’s 51st Infantry
Battalion repulsed an attack on a military post in Bayabao Poblacion, Butig, Lanao del Sur Saturday evening. Muktar was the second Indonesian terrorist killed since Sucipto Ibrahim Ali, a member of the Mujahidin Indonesia Timur, one of the 10 foreign jihadists with apparent links to the Islamic State that slipped into the country and were hiding in Mindanao. The fighting in Lanao del Sur
started after the BIFF attacked Charlie Company of the 51st Infantry IB and the 2nd Platoon of the 5th Mechanized Infantry Battalion in Butig town. Shortly after, the group launched another attack on Army troopers at a nearby post, prompting Army commanders to mobilize armored tanks reinforced by two MG520 attack helicopters and OV-10 bomber planes, which pounded rebel positions until Sunday.
The fighting spilled over to a nearby village in Alog, Lumbatan town, after rebels said to be affiliated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ambushed a convoy of military reinforcements at 10:45 a.m. Monday. Reports said military convoys with two armored personnel carriers from the 5th Mechanized Battalion were waylaid by gunmen believed to be followers of Edris Salindawan, alias Abuhanif, an MILF base commander. Next page
Practice. Air Force planes do a flyby along Edsa in preparation for the 30th anniversary of the People Power Revolution on Feb. 25. Manny PalMero
Lanao LP members jump ship, back Binay
A2
China now installing radar in disputed sea CHINA is installing radar systems on its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea, an American think tank has said, in a move that could significantly change the operational landscape. Satellite imagery of Cuarteron reef in the Spratly islands released by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies
shows what appears to be a high-frequency radar installation, as well as a lighthouse, underground bunker, helipad and other communications equipment. The photographs come only a week after US officials said China had deployed surface to air missiles in the Paracel islands further north, and with tensions mounting in the strategically
vital region. “Placement of a high-frequency radar on Cuarteron Reef would significantly bolster China’s ability to monitor surface and air traffic coming north from the Malacca Straits and other strategically important channels,” said CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. Next page