The Philippine military says it has killed Abu Sabaya, one of the key leaders of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, during a naval gun battle June 21. Sabaya's death - coming just weeks after a raid by the Philippine military deprived the group of its two American hostages - has removed much of the overt justification for U.S. military forces to be in the southern Philippines. Yet while the United States is set to pull out most of its forces at the end of July, its strategic interest in the Philippines remains as strong as ever.
Analysis
Philippine troops June 21 killed Abu Sabaya, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, during a naval gun battle off the coast of Zamboanga del Norte in the southern Philippines. Sabaya's death comes just weeks after Philippine forces attempted to rescue one Filipino and two Americans who had been held hostage by the group for more than a year. Although the raid had mixed results - only one of the U.S. hostages escaped alive - it did deprive the Abu Sayyaf of its human shields, freeing up the Philippine military to accelerate and expand its operations against the rebels.
After losing their two American hostages and a key leader, the Abu Sayyaf is posing less of a threat by the day, and the U.S. military is preparing to pull out most of its forces from the southern Philippines when joint training exercises with Filipino troops end July 31. However, Washington's six-month deployment on Abu Sayyaf's tiny island stronghold of Basilan was always about more than helping the country battle a militant group loosely linked to al Qaeda.
Analysis
Philippine troops June 21 killed Abu Sabaya, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, during a naval gun battle off the coast of Zamboanga del Norte in the southern Philippines. Sabaya's death comes just weeks after Philippine forces attempted to rescue one Filipino and two Americans who had been held hostage by the group for more than a year. Although the raid had mixed results - only one of the U.S. hostages escaped alive - it did deprive the Abu Sayyaf of its human shields, freeing up the Philippine military to accelerate and expand its operations against the rebels.
After losing their two American hostages and a key leader, the Abu Sayyaf is posing less of a threat by the day, and the U.S. military is preparing to pull out most of its forces from the southern Philippines when joint training exercises with Filipino troops end July 31. However, Washington's six-month deployment on Abu Sayyaf's tiny island stronghold of Basilan was always about more than helping the country battle a militant group loosely linked to al Qaeda.