Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines

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Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines
Part of the War on Terrorism, Insurgency in the Philippines
Philippine and US soldiers
Date January 15, 2002 - ongoing Location Mindanao, Philippines Result Conflict ongoing
Belligerents
Philippines Pro Government Militia  United States (advisors)	Moro Islamic Liberation Front Moro National Liberation Front al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayyaf, Rajah Solaiman Movement, New People's Army
Commanders
RP Forces: Hermogenes Esperon Jr Brigadier General Ramiro Alivio U.S. Advisors: Ltg. Martin Dempsey (acting CENTCOM commander) Gen. David Petraeus (incoming CENTCOM commander) Bill Coultrup	Khadaffy Janjalani † Jose Maria Sison Nur Misuari Al Haj Murad Ebrahim
Strength
18,000 Filipinos Unknown CAFGU (Militias) 500 American advisors	2,000 (ASG) 11,000 (MILF) 7,000 (NPA) 200-300 al-Qaeda
Casualties and losses
434 Filipino soldiers killed, 1 captured; 15 US soldiers killed (1 killed in action), 20+ policemen killed 18 militiamen killed[1][2]	996 killed, 146 captured
Causes: Islamic insurgency in the Philippines, September 11, 2001 attacks Sources: Yahoo!NEWS

v • d • e Campaigns of the War on Terrorism Afghanistan – Philippines – Horn of Africa – Mediterranean – Colombia – Maghreb – Iraq – Saudi Arabia – Pakistan – Thailand – 1st Somalia – Israel and Lebanon – Palestinian Territories – 2nd Somalia – North Lebanon – 1st Gaza Strip – Lebanon – 2nd Gaza Strip

Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines (OEF-P) is part of Operation Enduring Freedom and the U.S. Global War on Terrorism^[3]. About 500 U.S. military personnel are advising and assisting the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the Southern Philippines.

Special Operations Command-Pacific (SOCPAC) troops are the core of Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines (OEF-P), an operation which supports the Government of the Republic of the Philippines counterterrorism efforts. With U.S. advice and training, the AFP and civilian authorities have improved their ability to coordinate and sustain counterterrorism operations. U.S. and Philippine forces have also worked together under the new Security Engagement Board framework – the primary mechanism for consultation and planning regarding non-traditional security threats – to complete humanitarian and civil assistance projects and improve living conditions in the southern Philippines. As a result of their combined efforts, support for terrorists has waned markedly.

Deployment first began January 2002 and involved more than 1,200 members of United States Special Operations Command, Pacific (SOCPAC), headed by Brig. Gen. Donald C. Wurster. SOCPAC's deployable joint task force HQ, Joint Task Force 510 (JTF 510), directed and carried out the operation.

The mission was to advise the Armed Forces of the Philippines in combating terrorism in the Philippines.^[4] Much of the mission (Exercise Balikatan 02-1) took place on the island of Basilan, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf.

Contents 1 Timeline of the fighting 2 Combatants 2.1 Armed Forces of the Philippines 2.2 United States Armed Forces 2.3 Abu Sayyaf 2.4 Jemaah Islamiyah 3 Balikatan training exercises 4 See also 5 References and notes

[edit] Timeline of the fighting

On February 21, 2002, the largest loss of life for U.S. forces occurred when 10 soldiers were killed after their MH-47 crashed at sea in the southern Philippines.

On October 2, 2002, an explosion at an open-air market outside the gate of Camp Enrile Malagutay in Zamboanga killed a U.S. special forces soldier.

On February 27, 2004, SuperFerry 14 was bombed and sunk in the Manila Bay. 116 people were killed and it was the worst terrorist attack at sea in history. Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for the attack.

In 2005 and 2006 renewed fighting between the government forces and Abu Sayyaf guerillas allied with the New People's Army (NPA) hit the south of the Philippines. At the end of 2006 the NPA is estimated to have 7,000 fighters while Abu Sayyaf has 2,000.

On July 10-11, 2007, Marines entered guerilla territory in an attempt to save Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi, who was being held as a hostage. The operation ended in disaster: 14 Marines were killed, with 10 of them beheaded.

In August 2008, a cease-fire deal which had been holding barely since 2003 seemed to have colapsed with Muslim rebels going on a rampage in villages in the south, hacking to death 44 civilians. The rampage started in retaliation to military operations against the rebels. The military responded to the killings with a wide-scalle operation which resulted in the capture and destruction of some 15 rebel camps. 17 Filipino soldiers and 5 pro-government militiamen were killed along with at least 141 rebels in the fighting between August 11 and August 25, another 64 soldiers were wounded. At least another 60 civilians were killed in the military offensive, 20 of them in the town of Piagapo.^[5][6]

Between January 1 and October 31, 2008, the government claimed that the NPA killed up to 94 civilians while conducting summary killings of people they perceived as pro-government.^[7]

On December 7, 2008, the Army attacked Abu Sayyaf positions on the islands of Basilan and Jolo. The fighting resulted in the deaths of 24 soldiers and an unknown number of militants. Another 16 soldiers were wounded.^[8]

[edit] Combatants

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[edit] Armed Forces of the Philippines

Elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are deployed in Mindanao to deal with Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah. This deployment is controversial because of the presence of U.S trainers who are accused by Abu Sayyaf of being "traitorous scum coming to prop the autocratic and illegal government of the Phillipines"

[edit] United States Armed Forces

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The United States has provided the Philippine government with advisors, equipment and financial support to counter Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah.

[edit] Abu Sayyaf

The Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is deemed a "foreign terrorist organization" by the United States government. Specifically, it is an Islamist separatist group based in and around the southern islands of the Republic of the Philippines, primarily Jolo, Basilan, and Mindanao.

Since inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and extortion in their fight for an independent Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, with a claimed overarching goal of creating a Pan-Islamic superstate across the Malay portions of Southeast Asia, spanning, from east to west, the large island of Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago (Basilan and Jolo islands), the large island of Borneo (Malaysia and Indonesia), the South China Sea, and the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand and Burma).

The name of the group is Arabic for Father (Abu) of the Sword (Sayyaf).

[edit] Jemaah Islamiyah

Jemaah Islamiyah is a militant Islamic terrorist organization dedicated to the establishment of a fundamentalist Islamic theocracy in Southeast Asia, in particular Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, the south of Thailand and the Philippines.

Jemaah Islamiyah is thought to have killed hundreds of civilians and is suspected of having executed the Bali car bombing on October 12, 2002 in which suicide bombers killed 202 people, mostly Australian tourists, and wounded many in a nightclub. After this attack, the U.S. State Department designated Jemaah Islamiyah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Jemaah Islamiyah is also suspected of carrying out the Zamboanga bombings, the Rizal Day Bombings, the 2004 Jakarta embassy bombing and the 2005 Bali terrorist bombing.

Financial links between Jemaah Islamiyah and other terrorist groups, such as Abu Sayyaf and al-Qaeda, have been found to exist.^[9] Jemaah Islamiyah means "Islamic Group" and is often abbreviated JI.

[edit] Balikatan training exercises

The Balikatan training exercises are a part of Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines which is mainly a series of joint training exercises between the Philippines and the United States. These training exercises are mainly taking place in Mindanao, the Spratly Islands, Tarlac, and other parts in the Philippines. The Balikatan training exercises are focused on joint training and counter-terrorist training aimed on strengthening relations between the Philippines and the United States. The Balikatan training exercises are also aimed on training Philippine forces to fight the Abu Sayyaf, Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front.

There have been allegations in the Philippine press and elsewhere that visiting forces from the United States appear to have become a permanent fixture in the landscape of Zamboanga City and other crisis-torn parts of Mindanao. Philippine presidential executive secretary Eduardo Ermita has responded to these allegations by saying, that the U.S. soldiers "... all look alike so it’s as if they never leave," going on to say that they "... are replaced every now and then. They leave, contrary to the critics’ impression that they have not left". These remarks were made in response to statements made by Edgar Araojo, a political science professor at Western Mindanao State University, that the country had surrendered its sovereignty. In specific response, Ermita said, "Our national sovereignty and territorial integrity are intact", going on to point out that the Balikatan exercises had bolstered national and regional security, and to say that terrorists and communist rebels were "common enemies of democracy, therefore there is nothing wrong with cooperation" between the armed forces of the US and the Philippines.^[10]

[edit] See also

• Military history of the United States
• Military history of the Philippines
• Operation Alavar

v • d • e War on Terrorism Timeline · Casualties · Theaters · Criticism · ISAF Participants Operational ISAF · Operation Enduring Freedom participants · Multinational force in Iraq · Afghanistan · Northern Alliance · Iraq (Iraqi Army) · NATO · Pakistan · United Kingdom · United States · Philippines · Ethiopia Targets al-Qaeda · Osama bin Laden · Abu Sayyaf · Iraqi insurgency · Hamas · Islamic Courts Union · Jemaah Islamiyah · Taliban · Pattani Separatists · Jaish-e-Mohammed · Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami · Hizbul Mujahideen · Kurdistan Workers' Party · Hezbollah · Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan · Lashkar-e-Taiba Conflicts Operation Enduring Freedom War in Afghanistan · OEF - Philippines · Georgia Train and Equip Program · Georgia Sustainment and Stability · OEF - Horn of Africa · OEF - Trans Sahara · Missile strikes in Pakistan Other Insurgency in the Maghreb · Iraq insurgency and operations · Insurgency in Saudi Arabia · War in North-West Pakistan · South Thailand insurgency · Lebanon War · War in Somalia · Lebanon-Fatah al-Islam conflict Islamist attacks 2001–2002 September 11 attacks · 2001 Indian Parliament attack · Shoe bomb plot · Terrorism in Pakistan · Ghriba synagogue bombing · 1st Bali bombing 2003–2004 Riyadh compound bombings · Casablanca bombings · 2003 Mumbai bombings · Jakarta Marriott Hotel bombing · Istanbul bombings · SuperFerry 14 bombing · Madrid train bombings · Beslan school hostage crisis · Jakarta Australian embassy bombing 2005–2006 1st London bombings · 2nd London bombings · Sharm el-Sheikh attacks · 2nd Bali bombing · 1st Delhi bombings · Amman bombings · 2006 Varanasi bombings · 2006 Mumbai train bombings · Transatlantic aircraft plot · Toronto terrorism plot 2007–2008 1st Algiers bombings · Fort Dix attack plot · Ankara bombing · London car bomb plot · Glasgow Airport attack · Hyderabad bombings · Qahtaniya bombings · Karachi bombing · Baghlan bombing · Philippine Congress bombing · 2nd Algiers bombings · Assassination of Benazir Bhutto · Jaipur bombings · Danish embassy · Indian embassy · United States consulate · Istanbul bombings · Bangalore bombings-Ahmedabad · 2nd Delhi bombings · American embassy · Islamabad bombing · 3rd Delhi bombing · 2008 Assam bombings · 2008 Mumbai attacks 2009–2010 Attack on Sri Lankan cricket team · Yemeni tourist attack See also Abu Ghraib prison · Axis of evil · Bush Doctrine · CIA run Black sites · Combatant Status Review Tribunal · Enhanced interrogation techniques · Extrajudicial prisoners of the US · Extraordinary rendition · Guantanamo Bay detention camp · Military Commissions Act · NSA electronic surveillance program · Protect America Act of 2007 · Unitary executive theory · Unlawful combatant · USA PATRIOT Act Terrorism · War

[edit] References and notes