By Wikipedia Philippines — Filipino army troops captured a jungle encampment of al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf gunmen and killed five militants in a gun battle that…
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Abu Sayyaf also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya is one of several military Islamist separatist groups based in and around the southern Philippines, in Bangsamoro where for almost 30 years various Muslim groups have been engaged in an insurgency for an independent province in the country. The name of the group is derived from the Arabic ابو, abu ("father of") and sayyaf ("Swordsmith"). The group calls itself "Al-Harakat Al-Islamiyya" or the "Islamic Movement". Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion in what they describe as their fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines. *Ideology: Abu Sayyaf seeks the establishment of an independent Islamic province in the southern Philippines. *Manpower: Abu Sayyaf forces in Basilan and in Zamboanga Peninsula were, by June 2003, believed to number less than 500, down from more than 1,000 a year earlier. *Equipment: Abu Sayyaf uses mostly grenade, bomb (modified IED's and land mines), machine gun, rifle, rocket launcher and other weapons have been reported. The United States Department of State has classified the group as a terrorist group by adding it to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. As a result, the CIA deployed paramilitary officers from their elite Special Activities Division to hunt down and kill or capture key terrorist leaders. Several hundred United States soldiers are also stationed in the area to mainly train local forces in counter terror and counter guerrilla operations, but as a status of forces agreement and under Philippine law are not allowed to engage in direct combat.
