hostage situation at prison

[COOLmac©]

21 dead as Philippines forces storm prison to end militant revolt
(AFP)

15 March 2005


MANILA - Twenty-one prisoners including three top leaders of an Al Qaeda-linked group were killed on Tuesday when Philippines police stormed a maximum security prison to end a day-old revolt, officials said.

Around 300 heavily armed special forces firing tear gas and automatic rifles took part in the operation at Camp Bagong Diwa jail southeast of Manila, where three prison guards and two inmates were killed in a jailbreak attempt on Monday.

Manila police chief Avelino Razon said three leaders of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap group -- Galib Andang, alias Commander Robot, Alhamser Limbong, alias Commander Kosovo, and Nadjmi Sabdulla, alias Commander Global had been killed.

Andang had been involved in the kidnap of western tourists from Sipadan island in Malaysia in 2000, while Limbong faced trial for the bombing of a ferry in Manila last year that left over 100 people dead.

Abdulgani Hussein, who led the prisoners in failed negotiations with the authorities on Monday, and 17 unidentified others were also killed, Razon said, adding that police recovered eight firearms from cells used by the Abu Sayyaf.

Six policemen were wounded in the assault, he said, adding that authorities were still clearing the jail.

Gunshots were heard around midday, an hour after the assault was completed, when police flushed out an Abu Sayyaf suspect from a prison toilet, Razon said.

President Gloria Arroyo’s press secretary, Ignacio Bunye: “Thank God it is over ... the terrorists got what was coming to them.

“The crisis team gave them all the chances to peacefully surrender.

“A full scale investigation will be conducted to pinpoint responsibility and to see that similar incidents are not repeated,” Bunye said in a statement.

The prison houses most of the suspects believed responsible for the worst attacks by armed Islamic extremists in the Philippines.

Arroyo earlier congratulated the police and lamented that there were fatalities which Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said “could not be avoided”.

Police wearing gas masks and helmets started storming the four-storey building and retaking it cell by cell and floor by floor at 9:15 am (0115 GMT).

For about an hour heavy automatic rifle fire could be heard coming from the prison bloc holding 471 prisoners, a third of them Abu Sayyaf suspects, as thick clouds of teargas billowed from windows.

Reyes, said the operation had been carried out in an “exemplary” manner but expressed “regret” at the casualty count.

“I hope this delivers a strong message that anybody who tries to do something like this in the future will be dealt with in the same fashion,” Reyes said.

“They tried to escape. They killed three of our guards and wounded two others,” Reyes said, adding “there will be a thorough investigation” into the incident.

Asked why Andang was shot when he had already lost a leg during his capture in 2001, national police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said: “You don’t use your legs to fire a gun.”

The prison uprising brought a bloody end to Andang, a former separatist Muslim guerrilla in his late 30s who allegedly led an Abu Sayyaf kidnapping raid of the Malaysian resort of Sipadan in April 2000.

[Mikki]

I saw the news and the main "Commanders" of the Abu Sayyaf group were killed.

[Ataraxia]

I saw the news and the main "Commanders" of the Abu Sayyaf group were killed.

What the hell, Mikki stop listenin to Fabolous hes known to cause long term wiggerness

Anyway err yeah interesting story.

[COOLmac©]

very interesting indeed..
and what a quote in the end part...

Asked why Andang was shot when he had already lost a leg during his capture in 2001, national police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said: “You don’t use your legs to fire a gun.”

[The Game]

Pfft... Certain officials from the military are friends of the abu sayyaf.. Gracia Burnham was right..

[Null17]

I saw the news and the main "Commanders" of the Abu Sayyaf group were killed.

What the hell, Mikki stop listenin to Fabolous hes known to cause long term wiggerness

he can't become one anyway. he's not white...

as for the story. it was really weird. didn't really expect these terrorists to die in prison. at least not this way...

[COOLmac©]

it all reminds me of the movie "the ROCK"
starring sean connery and the guy in "gone in 60 seconds"