Bali bomb suspect 'missed' in raid

Troops in the Philippines captured three al Qaida-linked militants but missed two top terror suspects, including an Indonesian wanted for alleged involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings, during a raid on a rebel hide-out today, military officials said.

US-trained commandos, along with marines, swooped before dawn on the hide-out near Talipao town on southern Jolo island in search of Indonesian militant Umar Patek and Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon but the two escaped, army Brigadier General Ruperto Pabustan said.

US and Philippines military intelligence information indicated that Patek and Hapilon were hiding with several gunmen in the area. Troops with night-vision goggles barged into three huts and captured three sleeping Filipino militants and recovered two M-16 rifles, Brig Gen Pabustan said.

Militants in two other huts, possibly including Patek and Hapilon, learned of the raid and fled. No gunfight occurred, he said.

The military did not immediately identify the three captured Filipino militants.

“The high-value targets were able to escape but we’re still pursuing and conducting an operation,” said Brig Gen Pabustan, who heads a military task force hunting the insurgents.

Washington has offered large rewards for the capture of Patek and Hapilon, who have been linked to deadly bombings and other terror attacks.

Patek and fellow Indonesian militant Dulmatin, who goes by one name, are believed to have fled from Indonesia to the Mindanao region in the southern Philippines in 2003 to escape a nationwide manhunt over their alleged role in the Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people in south east Asia’s worst terrorist attack.

Dulmatin is believed to be hiding elsewhere in Jolo. The two Indonesians have been suspected of having helped plot terror attacks in the country and provide bomb-making and combat training to Abu Sayyaf and Indonesian militants, the military says.

Hapilon is being sought for alleged involvement in mass kidnappings, including the abduction of 17 Filipinos and three American tourists – missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Guillermo Sobero – from the Philippines’ Palawan island in May 2001.

Separately, Philippines marines clashed today with about 25 Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Jolo’s mountainous Patikul town in a 30-minute gun battle in which three militants were killed and a marine was injured. The militants retreated and were being pursued, marine spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Caculitan said.

A US-backed offensive which involved up to 10,000 soldiers led to the killing of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani in September and his presumed successor, Abu Sulaiman, in January in Jolo.

About 400 other Abu Sayyaf militants, along with less than a dozen Indonesians, are still being hunted by troops in Jolo and outlying islands, the military says.