The Philippines: Counter-Insurgency Vs. Counter-Terrorism in Mindanao

It is in the context of a complex set of intertwined organisations and a demonstrably successful counter-terrorism mechanism that the flaws of Balikatan and Oplan Ultimatum must be understood.

baLIKATAN AND OPLAN ULTIMATUM
Oplan Ultimatum, a nine-month offensive in Sulu by a ten-battalion Philippine joint services task force, was directed against an estimated 500 ASG and a small number of “High Value Target” foreigners – principal among them Dulmatin and Umar Patek. Supported by a U.S. military contingent of about 200, the offensive, which began in August 2006, built on gains won since Balikatan 02-1, a joint U.S.-Philippine “military exercise” conducted on Basilan between January and July 2002. Those manoeuvres had driven the ASG’s core leadership out of Basilan, established a tenuous peace on the island and upgraded local infrastructure and AFP skills, especially intelligence fusion and interoperability of weapons, tactics and communications systems. Balikatan has since become a paradigm of successful counter-insurgency, with global policy implications.

A. Early Successes
The new offensive was spurred by information derived from the capture some weeks earlier of a Malaysian-born Philippine Muslim, Binsali Kiram, also known as Binsali Omar, as he attempted to re-enter Sabah in the company of two Malaysian Darul Islam (DI) operatives.59 Binsali had extensive knowledge of the whereabouts of the wanted jihadis in Sulu, in which the Malaysians showed little interest. Improving Malaysian cooperation with the Philippine National Police (PNP), however, allowed a senior PNP investigator to interview Binsali and brief the AFP Southern Command (Southcom) chief, Major General Gabriel Habacon, on the actionable intelligence, and a plan of attack was prepared for midnight of 31 July 2006.60

U.S. groundwork over the previous year had been extensive. A military “needs assessment” team arrived on Jolo in May 2005, and Bayanihan (“Community Spirit”) exercises began on the island in September. In February 2006, Jolo hosted about 250 of the 5,000 U.S. troops taking part in wider “Balikatan 2006” manoeuvres. When Balikatan 06 ended in early March, U.S. forces stayed on in Jolo, building deep-water wells, roads and schools and conducting medical civic action programs (Medcaps) to build local goodwill and turn the population against ASG.

The August offensive was also preceded by a “gentlemen’s agreement” with the MNLF that reaffirmed its 1996 peace pact signed in Jakarta and established an informal Ad Hoc Coordinating Group (AHCG) and Peace Monitoring Group (PMG). A verbal agreement was struck between the MNLF and the Philippine government in the village of Bitanag, Jolo on 20 May 2006. It was modelled on the elaborate ceasefire mechanisms crafted with the MILF but absent from the Jakarta agreement. This “gentlemen’s agreement” came into play on the afternoon of 31 July, as AFP and MNLF representatives haggled over conditions for the forthcoming attack on the ASG.

Representing Southcom was its deputy commander for operations, Major General Ben Dolorfino, also head of AHJAG, with extensive experience coordinating counter-terrorist action with the MILF on mainland Mindanao. Opposite him sat Khaid Ajibun, chairman of the Sulu State Revolutionary Committee, with overall command of MNLF forces in Sulu province. The venue was Ajibun’s Camp Khalid bin Walid, better known as Camp Marang, in the hamlet of Marang, Buansa village, on the slopes of Mount Tumantangis, overlooking the provincial capital of Jolo and just five km from it.

The delicacy of the situation lay in the extreme proximity of the operation’s targets to Ajibun’s camp. As Dolorfino negotiated with the MNLF commander, he received updates on enemy movements from a U.S. surveillance plane circling overhead. It placed Abu Sayyaf forces within 500 metres of Dolorfino’s position.61 As the agreement was being translated into Tausug, the predominant language in Sulu, AFP artillery and air strikes suddenly erupted, throwing the scene into chaos. Ajibun’s men rushed to defend the camp perimeter to cries of “Allahu Akbar!” and “Our Muslim brothers are under attack!” However, the ceasefire pact held. Ajibun’s men were confined to an agreed six-sq. km “no fire zone,” and there were no serious “mis-encounters” between AFP and MNLF forces.62

Operational successes against the ASG during the first four months of Oplan Ultimatum went hand-in-hand with close MNLF cooperation and were noteworthy for the limited civilian displacement. An estimated 3,000 villagers were dislocated in August 2006, compared with up to 70,000 in February 2005 clashes and 12,000 in November 2005.63 The decisive factor enabling more discriminate AFP tactics may have been as much clear demarcation of MNLF forces as U.S. training, equipment and intelligence.

The initial fighting was largely contained to the Mount Kagay and Mount Taran areas to the immediate south west of Camp Marang. Early on the first morning, two Philippine special operations platoons engaged ASG fighters under Radullan Sahiron in Kagay village, Indanan, killing Radullan’s son, Ismin Sahiron, alias Young Hunter. Foreign jihadis took part in that battle, according to information that recently has emerged from an Indonesian participant, Mohamed Baehaqi, almost certainly including Umar Patek, Dulmatin and the Singaporean, Manobo. The group withdrew to a camp in Bai Bitu.64 Six more encounters ensued over the following week in the same area.65