SAS in hunt for Asia's terrorists Greg Sheridan, Foreign
editor,October 14, 2006
AN elite Australian Special Air Service team of about 20
soldiers has been involved in a joint military operation in the
southern Philippines to hunt down Asia's most wanted terrorists,
including two of the 2002 Bali bombers.
The SAS has been participating in a US-Philippines military
campaign to eradicate the Abu Sayyaf terror outfit, which is
believed to have been sheltering senior Indonesian Jemaah Islamiah
terrorists Dulmatin and Umar Patek.
The campaign, centred on the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Jolo island
in Mindanao, has been running for more than two months.
Sources told The Weekend Australian it involved about 100 US
special forces, including Green Berets, Navy SEALs and CIA
counter-terrorism specialists, as well as the armed forces of The
Philippines.
The SAS was involved in joint operations with Philippines forces
using high-speed inflatable boats to stop terrorists trying to get
in and out of the southern Philippines.
A number of terrorists have been captured by boats operating among
islands between The Philippines and the east coast of
Malaysia.
The SAS action in The Philippines is the closest the SAS has come
to conventional combat operations in Southeast Asia since the end
of the Vietnam War in the 1970s.
The Philippines constitution forbids foreign forces from engaging
directly in combat operations on Philippines soil. This restricts
US and Australian forces to training and logistics.
However, it is believed that these terms are sufficiently elastic
to allow intimate US and Australian involvement in Philippines
military operations, with the only proviso that the final military
action must be taken by Philippines soldiers. They can, however, be
accompanied by Americans or Australians.
Dulmatin, the bomb technician who planned and carried out the 2002
Bali attacks, has a $US10 million ($13 million) bounty on his head,
offered by the US Government.
Patek, who recruited the suicide bombers to carry out the 2002 Bali
bombings, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians,
reportedly died in a shootout with Filipino soldiers last
month.
Philippines security forces claimed that Patek, who had a
$US1million ($1.3 million) bounty on his head, "died from the
wounds he suffered" after forces attacked an Abu Sayyaf camp on
Jolo. But a senior Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade source
said Patek was thought to be alive.
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The Australian SAS contingent was chosen because of its expertise
in small, fast boats.
The SAS used rigid inflatables of the kind used in the interception
of the Norwegian Tampa refugee boat in 2001.
Under an expanded counter-terrorist defence assistance program,
Australia is to supply 30 vessels to the Philippines Navy.
It will supply training and maintenance support for the life of the
boats.
2.Special
forces wage war by stealth
ANALYSIS
Greg Sheridan
October 14, 2006
A SMALL team of about 20 Australian Special Air Service soldiers
has been helping track down Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiah
terrorists in the southern Philippines.
The soldiers have been notionally in joint patrols with Filipino
military personnel but in truth the Australians are leading the
efforts they are involved with.
For the past couple of months a spasmodically ferocious effort has
been waged in Mindanao, in particular on the island of Jolo, to
eradicate the ASG, an al-Qa'ida affiliated terror group of extreme
violence and cruelty.
The SAS campaign is the nearest the Australian special forces have
come to direct combat operations in Southeast Asia since the
Vietnam War. The SAS was involved in East Timor but that was
peace-keeping rather than combat.
Under The Philippines' constitution, foreign forces are not allowed
to have permanent bases or engage in direct combat on Philippines'
soil. This has hampered the US, which has the broadest and deepest
military relationship with The Philippines.
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Aussie SAS
13.10.2006