Philippine Soldiers Find Rebel Stronghold After Deadly Fight - WSJ.com

" style="border: medium none ; display: block;">Image by The Mindanao Examiner via Flickr

By JAMES HOOKWAY

Philippine authorities said soldiers killed as many as 17 suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group Sunday and discovered a heavily fortified bunker complex that appears to be the group's base of operations on an island that has given them years of trouble.

The discovery could explain why Abu Sayyaf has remained so elusive on the relatively small island of Jolo, about 590 miles south of Manila, despite years of U.S. military assistance and training in the area.

Philippine soldiers were tracking suspected Abu Sayyaf members when they stumbled on the complex, military officials said. The complex could accommodate as many as 500 people, and the various bunkers were connected by a network of trenches cut into the steep mountainside, said Ben Dolorfino, a lieutenant general in the Philippine army. During Sunday's six-hour battle, the military called in air strikes, he said.

Abu Sayyaf guerrillas Monday ambushed and killed eight Philippine soldiers who were returning to base after securing the rebels' lair, authorities said.

The guerrilla group, which first came to international prominence in 2000 for kidnapping and ransoming tourists, has baffled Philippine military officials for the way its members seemingly melt away into Jolo's dense foliage. The unearthing of the bunker network suggests how Abu Sayyaf has been able to persist on the roughly 40-mile-wide island despite intensive manhunts and the use of U.S. satellites.

The loss of the apparent rebel base marks the second major blow to Islamist terrorist groups operating in Southeast Asia in the past week. On Thursday, Indonesian police tracked down and killed Noordin Mohamed Top in central Java. Mr. Noordin, a Malaysian national, participated in or masterminded a series of terrorist strikes against Western interests in Indonesia, including bombings in Bail in 2002 and 2005 and an attack on two Jakarta hotels in July.

Philippine military officials are now preparing to examine the Jolo bunker complex for further clues to how the seemingly loose-knit Abu Sayyaf and its top leaders operate. Philippine authorities said Sunday's battle may already have disrupted a meeting between Abu Sayyaf chieftains who were being tracked in the area, including Isnilon Hapilon, for whom the U.S. is offering a bounty of $5 million for information leading to his capture.

Formed in the late 1980s with financing provided by Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, Abu Sayyaf was intended to radicalize the Philippines' more established Muslim insurgency, but for a period it degenerated into kidnapping for ransom.

The group later attempted to attract the attention of al Qaeda-linked financiers by teaming up with militants in neighboring Malaysian and Indonesia, including members of the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah group, which orchestrated the Bali bombings. Philippine intelligence officials say Abu Sayyaf is still harboring two important Indonesian terrorist suspects, Umar Patek and Dulmatin, who are wanted for their alleged role in the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed over 200 people.

The Abu Sayyaf rebels themselves have planned major terrorist attacks across the Philippines, including the firebombing of a crowded ferry in Manila Bay in 2004 that killed 116 people.

Write to James Hookway at james.hookway@wsj.com