The Religion of Peace At It Again

"You see him on his Facebook profile and he’s smiling."
"It’s infuriating because you think to yourself, he shouldn’t be allowed to smile. He’s a killer, right? But there he is."
"[His name can be seen written on the base of his ammunition, which] would be typical of officers of the Philippine National Police worn by the Special Counter Insurgency Operation Unit, or SCOUT] being responsible for their issued kit."
"With that congruence of factors going on we have strong reason to believe that he was at some point a police officer within the PNP. And we’ve got nothing to refute that at this time." 
"[SCOUT training] would put him in an ideal position for a leadership role within Abu Sayyaf. Everything that you would need to know to attack Abu Sayyaf, now you have this member within Abu Sayyaf that can counter all of those different things that are happening to them."
So it’s a really significant finding in terms of our investigation and it also points to the difficulty that the Philippine army is having in trying to stop, get rid of, remove Abu Sayyaf."

"I think, like all Canadians, we were shocked by what was taking place. And having our skill set and knowing that Abu Sayyaf was very active on social media, we saw an opportunity to see if there was any way that we could provide input or gather intelligence on the group ourselves.
And so when the initial hostage videos, the ransom videos, came out, we started to monitor Abu Sayyaf on primarily Facebook."


"The fact that he stepped forward to be the executioner in both John Risdel and Robert Hall’s murders, there’s a reason for that. He’s looking to take on a broader role. And having that skill set, that SCOUT training, would also accelerate him up the ladder."


Jeff Weyers, senior analyst,Waterloo, Ontario-based iBrabo, Global News, December 18, 2018

Facebook photo believed to show Abu Sayyaf militant Bhen Tatuh wearing a Philippine National Police uniform

The RCMP is aware of the independent report.""We continue to work with our international partners regarding the ongoing criminal investigation into the deaths of Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall in the Philippines."Sgt. Marie Damian, spokesperson, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Facebook photo of Behn Tatuh, with ISIS flag behind him.
iBrabo

That was then, when Canadians anxiously read news reports of the two kidnapped Canadians for whose release the Islamist terrorist group now associated formally with Islamic State, was demanding millions. That was when newly-installed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated firmly that Canada does not pay ransom to terrorists. Of course, Canada has done so, through intermediaries in the past, it is why it came about that two former Canadian diplomats, Robert Fowler and Louis Guay taken hostage in Niger by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) were finally released, though then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper denied having paid ransom.

More latterly, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Jolo island where Abu Sayyaf militants have continued to carry out kidnappings, beheadings and bombings was attacked as devout Catholic Filipinos were at prayer on Sunday. Window panels were blasted out by the force of the first bomb that hurled humans and debris across the town square in the provincial capital of Sulu. In response to this latest atrocity Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, ordered his troops to hunt down and crush the Abu Sayyaf group. 

They've done a bang-up job with drug traffickers, not so great with Islamist terrorists. "This is an act of terrorism. This is not a religious war", confusingly stated the Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, identifying Abu Sayyaf commander Hatib Sawadjaan as being responsible for the attack. This is the commander of the group that beheaded the two Canadians back in 2009, when the ransom demand went unfulfilled. His base is the jungles close to the town of Patikul near Jolo. 



The minority Muslim population in predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines had endorsed a new autonomous region in the southern Philippines to put an end to close to five decades of separatist rebellion in which 150,000 people had been killed. Most of the Muslim areas had approved autonomy, while those in Sulu province chose to reject the deal. 

Typical of Islamic State, there were two suicide bombers involved, wearing explosive belts. One of the bombers detonated his explosives at the gate, and while wounded parishioners began to flee the interior of the cathedral, and armed forces personnel were rushing in, the second suicide bomber detonated his explosives in the parking lot. The death toll was twenty, while another 111 people were wounded; five troops and 15 civilians made up the death count.

A soldier views the site inside a Roman Catholic cathedral in southern Philippines after two bombs exploded Sunday.

"As we convey our sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the victims and offer our sympathy to the peace-loving people of Sulu who are severely affected by this dastardly act, we assure our people that we will use the full force of the law to bring to justice the perpetrators behind this incident."

"[People should] remain calm and avoid spreading panic in our respective communities to deny terrorism any victory."

Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana

Even in the Philippines, with tough-guy Duterte at the helm, authorities take exquisite care not to rile the sensibilities and besmirch the 'honour' of Islam by speaking words such as Islamist terrorists, lest the beast be bestirred to even greater and more horrendous atrocities; not that President Duterte would mind all that much being accused of 'Islamophobia'.