Page 53 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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26———Alex Boncayao Brigade

to drive the United States from Saudi Arabia and Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Most Wanted Terrorists.”
other Islamic countries. The Al Qaeda network, which http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm,
serves as an umbrella group for other militant organi- October 2001.
zations, establishes cells in areas it plans to attack. Frontline. “Hunting bin Laden.” PBS. http://www.pbs.org/
wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/, May 1, 2002.
The United States indicted al-Zawahiri for his
MacFarquhar, Neil. “Word for Word/Jihad Lit; Beware of
involvement in the planning of the 1998 bombings of
Hidden Enemies and Their Wolves and Foxes.” New York
U.S. embassies in East Africa, in which 224 people
Times, December 9, 2001
were killed and thousands wounded. Coordinated
Ungoed-Thomas, Jon. “Egypt Used Torture to Crack
truck bombs went off within minutes of each other at Network.” The Times (London), November 25, 2001.
the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. United
Salaam, Tanzania, cities 400 miles apart. States v. Usama bin Laden et al. Indictment S(10) 98 Cr.
Shortly after the embassy bombings, the U.S. gov- 1023 (LBS).
ernment announced that bin Laden and Al Qaeda oper-
atives were responsible. In retaliation, President
Clinton ordered air attacks on Al Qaeda training ALEX BONCAYAO BRIGADE
grounds in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical plant
in Khartoum, Sudan. International criticism of the air
raids was vociferous as many debated whether the fac- The Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) was a Manila-
tory in Sudan had any relation to bin Laden or chemi- based Communist hit squad that assassinated dozens
cal weapons. In 2001, four men tied to Al Qaeda were of people on the orders of the Communist Party of the
convicted in the United States of various roles in the Philippines (CPP) during the 1980s and 1990s.
bombings. Al Qaeda is also widely accused of the Formed by a group a leftist intellectuals in
September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade the mid-1960s, in 1969 the CPP formed the New
Center and the Pentagon. People’s Army (NPA) and went to war against the
Al-Zawahiri appeared with Muhammad Atef and Philippine government. The NPA operated mostly in
bin Laden in a video released to coincide with the first the countryside surrounding Manila and the outlying
U.S. attacks on Afghanistan following September 11. islands of the archipelago. Throughout the 1970s,
Speaking first, the doctor’s remarks on Al Qaeda’s fighting was fierce between the Communists and
“holy war” made many experts speculate about who government; the government was never able to com-
truly leads Al Qaeda—al-Zawahiri or bin Laden. pletely eliminate the guerrillas. The guerrillas, how-
As the U.S. and Afghan rebel assault on the Taliban ever, were unable to consolidate their territorial
intensified in the winter of 2001, al-Zawahiri sent his gains. In the early 1980s, the NPA leadership decided
autobiography, “Knights Under the Banner of the that a strike at the heart of Philippine economic and
Prophet,” to the London-based newspaper Al-Sharq Al- political power was necessary. An attack on Manila,
Awsat by way of an unidentified courier. Lengthy the capital, was planned.
excerpts appeared in December 2001. Press reports The NPA lacked the resources for a conventional
suggested that al-Zawahiri had been wounded during military assault. Furthermore, the NPA’s structure
the assault on Tora Bora and that his wife and children (forces were grouped into brigades of up to 100 men)
had been killed in the bombing of Kandahar. However, was unsuited for attacking and fighting in a large
U.S. officials have stated that these reports cannot be city. The leadership had learned from its experi-
verified. The U.S. Department of State is offering a ences in assaulting military outposts in the southern
reward of up to $25 million for information leading Philippines; they decided that the new force would
directly to the arrest or conviction of al-Zawahiri. consist of hit squads of one to four men who would
carry out targeted assassinations of government offi-
See also AL QAEDA; MUHAMMAD ATEF; OSAMA BIN LADEN; cials, businessmen, soldiers, and police. Although the
EAST AFRICAN EMBASSY BOMBINGS; SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS
number of actual assassins was quite small—some
sources estimate as few as 30, even during the peak of
Further Reading
the brigade’s activity—their support system was vast,
Bergen, Peter L. Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of with as many as 500 other members providing intel-
Osama bin Laden. New York: Free Press, 2001. ligence, supplies, and safe houses. The new squad