THE multimillion dollars worth of precision guided munitions (PGMs) and other weapons recently given by the United States should help hasten the military’s campaign against terrorist groups in Mindanao, including those allied with the Islamic State (IS), in the view of security officials.
The PGMs, or smart bombs, and the bunker missiles worth $18 million were donated to the country through a ceremonial turnover by US National Security Adviser Robert C. O’Brien late last month, and have been primarily earmarked for counterterrorism operations in Mindanao.
“These smart bombs will be very much utilized here in Sulu,” said Maj. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of all military forces in Sulu, where the IS and its allied group, Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), actively operate. The IS is made up and is being led by ASG leaders.
So timely
Last month, the heir apparent to the local leadership of the IS, Mannul Sawadjaan, was killed by a combined team of Army Special Forces and Scout Rangers in mid-sea operations that were orchestrated by the Joint Task Force Sulu, which is headed by Gonzales.
The military claimed Sawadjaan had been touted to inherit the reins of the IS following the death of his uncle, Hadjan Sawadjaan, who became the leader of the IS in Mindanao several months after the death of IS Southeast Asia leader and former ASG commander Isnilon Hapilon.
“There are times when the fight is in close range that we are not able to deliver air support, or use our artillery quickly, as those could also hurt our ground troops if they are not at a safe distance from the target,” Gonzales said.
“With these smart bombs, which have excellent precision capabilities, chances are we could deliver support wherever the troops are, so long as the pilot could pinpoint the exact location of the target,” the military commander, who also heads the 11th Infantry Division, said.
The military says it needs the smart bombs for its counterterrorism operations in Mindanao, and this necessity was highlighted three years ago with the siege of Marawi City in Lanao del Sur by the Hapilon-led mixture of local and foreign IS fighters.
When the terrorists occupied the country’s Islamic city, they put up snipers’ nests and sought cover in buildings, while using underground tunnels to move around as they fought it out with soldiers. They also mined the city’s grounds.
The military, which is bereft of precision-guided munitions and missiles, bunker-busting missiles included in its inventory still then, had to use “free-falling” bombs unleashed from vintage bombers such as the OV-10 Bronco.
Friendly fire
AS such, the effect was devastatingly random. Some of the bombs incinerated unintended targets, hit, or perhaps even killed friendly forces or failed to explode upon impact. The presence of unexploded ordnance, the government claimed, was among the reasons why the rehabilitation of the city had dragged.
In contrast, Gonzales said the PGMs would make no lair secure enough for the ASG, whose members also have a mastery of Sulu’s vast hinterland terrains.
“With the smart bombs, we could neutralize them even if they withdraw to their hideouts,” the military commander said. “The local ASG terrorists here have excellent mastery of the terrain because they were born and raised here.”
Explaining the military’s handicap where the PGMs and missile could be put into use, Gonzales shared a tale by most of the terrorists who have yielded to the government.
“Rebel returnees have jokingly told us that they could walk the hinterlands even with their eyes closed. Knowing that, we partner with the locals and at times they act as guide. Also, we utilize our special mapping capabilities,” he said.
On the verge of elimination
PURSUING and engaging the terrorists in battle terrains over which they have mastery would not always ensure success, and there is also the human toll.
While the modern bombs, which sport a hefty price tag, are Mindanao-bound, Gonzales said they have to be employed for special purposes.
“Like what we did [in the execution of] Operation Perfect Storm, we have to develop a project based on good intelligence,” he said. “Whatever armaments we use, or whichever special unit we employ, the success is dependent on good intelligence build-up. Then, of course, intensive planning.”
Operation Perfect Storm, which was initiated through the assets of the Navy and the Air Force, was Gonzales’s project that got Sawadjaan while he and six other terrorists were cruising the waters near Sulare Island in Sulu on their way to Northern Mindanao to carry out kidnapping activities.
Gonzales said the counterterrorism effort in Sulu is gaining headway, and he sees it becoming more potent with the military’s acquisition of the new weapons.
“We are gaining momentum in neutralizing ASG terrorists.… We are accelerating our efforts to neutralize remaining members,” he said, as he ran through a detailed count of terrorists that have been neutralized by his task force recently.
As this was being written, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, another identified extremist group in the South, deployed 50 men in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao, and torched a police car. But that’s another story.
Image credits: Eloisa Lopez/Pool Photo via AP