PHILIPPINES ARMY CAPTURES COMMANDER OF ISIS-AFFILIATED ABU SAYYAF MILITANT GROUP

Soldiers stand guard along the main street of Mapandi village, Philippines June 2, 2017. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

On March 31, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced in an official statement that its units had captured “Walton Jujirin”, a sub-leader of the ISIS-affiliated group Abu Sayyaf in the Patikul area of the southern province of Sulu. Jujirin was wounded and left behind by his four fighters when he was captured, according to the AFP.

AFP units were reportedly conducting a security operation to rescue Philippines and foreign hostages from Abu Sayyaf in the Patikul area when the civilians informed them about the location of Jujirin.

According to the AFP, Jujirin and his units are responsible for a series of IEDs attacks against the AFP in Sulu province. On March 30 only, three soldiers of the AFP were killed when their vehicle was targeted with an IED in Sulu, according to the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq.

Click to see the full-size image

The AFP intensified its security operation in Sulu province in 2018 in order to eliminate Abu Sayyaf there and to free at least 10 hostages, the terrorist group had abducted earlier. 84 Abu Sayyaf members have been neutralized by the AFP since the beginning of 2018, according to Philippine sources.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re...

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has ...

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, sp...

ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Search This Blog