After the Abu Sayyaf group reportedly beheaded two Canadian nationals in the last two months, at least 10 battalions or 5,000 government troops have been deployed to Sulu.
All resources from land, sea and air have been made available for Sulu operations said Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command.
Tan said troops from all the service commands like the Philippine Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy, and the different support commands like the Scout Rangers and Special Force have been operating in Sulu.
However, Tan refused to call it a “wide-scale” operation even at 5,000 troops.
“We focus on areas known to be supportive of the Abu Sayyaf Group. We will go to the communities known to provide refuge to bandits,” Tan stated as quoted by the Inquirer.
“There are selected target areas. These bandits have relatives and they hide in the populace,” he added.
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