“If soldiers will not be the ones who will attack, the Abu Sayyaf will be the ones to launch tests against these forces to win Sulu by their terms,” he added. Duterte, who had ordered the military to crush the Abu Sayyaf in three to six months, admitted that the kidnap-for-ransom bandits could seek retribution, but said he was confident of winning the war with the whole military behind him. President Rodrigo R. Duterte salutes a soldier slain in an Abu Sayyaf encounter in Sulu during necrological services at the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City. Malacanang Photo“We should be aware because we are hitting them hard,” Duterte said in a speech in Davao City, referring to the Abu Sayyaf. Journalists who are covering the operations against the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu were moved to a bigger military camp, given threat of attack from the group.

Source: The Standard September 01, 2016 16:06 UTC