Guam soldier unharmed in Sayyaf attack in Sulu
08/31/2008 | 11:39 PM
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/117308/Guam-soldier-unharmed-in-Sayyaf-attack-in-Sulu
MANILA, Philippines - A Guam National Guard Soldier deployed to Mindanao was reported safe and unharmed following an attack by the Abu Sayyaf on a military convoy in Sulu Saturday.
The Pacific News center (www.pacificnewscenter.com) reported that the soldier is a member of a platoon from the 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment deployed to the region last May.
It did not name the soldier but said the platoon is assigned to the US Joint Special Operations Task Force- Philippines.
Philippine security officials did not report about the presence of US troops in the convoy, until the Guam Army National Guard released a statement on the matter Saturday.
No other details were immediately made available. - GMANews.TV
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'Calibrated' assault on Sayyaf launched after Sulu attack
08/31/2008 | 11:05 PM
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/117303/Calibrated-assault-on-Sayyaf-launched-after-Sulu-attack
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines– The Philippine military launched a "calibrated" offensive against Abu Sayyaf militants following an attack that killed four Marines and wounded 10 more on the southern island of Sulu, officials said.
US soldiers were in the military convoy when militants attacked them with mortars and automatic weapons near a Marine base in the village of Bonbon in Patikul town over the weekend. The attack occurred two days before the start of the Ramadan, Islam's holiest month.
Filipino security officials did not report about the presence of US troops in the convoy, but the Guam Army National Guard released a brief statement Saturday, confirming that a local serviceman currently was unharmed following an attack on his unit on the island.
The US soldier was not identified, but the Guam Army National Guard said the serviceman is attached to a platoon with the 294th Infantry Regiment deployed in May in Sulu to aide in the ongoing conflict there.
No other details were made available by the Philippine and US military about the American involvement in the operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu, but the members of the 294th Infantry Regiment are assigned to the U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force - Philippines.
The attack came two days after Filipino and US troops and provincial government officials inaugurated various development and infrastructure projects in Patikul town.
Four artesian wells have been handed over to local officials in the villages of Timpook, Taung, Tanum, and Liang and a new school building in the village of Bonbon and two road projects in Liang and Bud Datu, all in Patikul.
At least 30 US soldiers, part of the Guam Army National Guard's 1st Battalion under the 294th Infantry Regiment, were deployed in Sulu to serve as security - for at least for six months - for a unit of the Special Operations Command-Pacific.
Hundreds of US troops are deployed in Sulu and other parts of the southern Philippines also conducting joint civilian-military operations and training with the Philippine military.
The humanitarian missions is part of the Balikatan, which means "shoulder-to-shoulder," an annual Philippine and US bilateral military humanitarian assistance and training activity.
Though the Philippines and US have consistently claimed that the unit is not involved in actual combat, US troops themselves describe their mission as "unconventional warfare" and "counter-insurgency" operations in the country. US troops join Filipino soldiers on patrol, provide them with intelligence and assist in various aspects of their operation.
American soldiers are also active in many development and humanitarian activities in Mindanao, especially in Sulu province where they built roads and schools and join medical missions with local troops and provincial government mostly in poor areas.
Just earlier this year, about 600 US troops worked with civilian authorities and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in various humanitarian projects that included free medical, dental and veterinary care in Sulu province and also in central and Western part of Mindanao.
US and Philippine troops, many of them construction engineers, built schools and other community infrastructures in those areas. In 2006, the United States Navy hospital ship Mercy had treated more than 60,000 mostly poor Filipino patients in separate medical missions in Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi islands, including Zamboanga City, as part of the Project Bayanihan. Al Jacinto
