Police investigators examine one of three sites in Basilan province that were bombed by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants disguised as police and military men last Tuesday. (AP)

Alarmed by the Abu Sayyaf attacks in Basilan, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directed Wednesday the reactivation of the Anti-Terrorism Task Force as she ordered Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza to watch over the operations to hunt down the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members who launched bomb attacks in Basilan’s Isabela City last Tuesday.

The attack in Basilan came before suspected members of the disbanded Maguindanao Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO) fired at least 20 rounds of rifle-propelled grenades towards government security outposts in the area.

But as President Arroyo ordered the reactivation of the task force, fighting broke out anew in Basilan Wednesday as hundreds of policemen and soldiers moved to pursue the fleeing ASG bandits and seal off the island province's capital where 12 people died in bombings and ensuing fierce clashes last Tuesday.

“I just talked to the President an hour ago. She directed me personally to oversee the operations there and also call upon the Anti-Terrorism Task Force to do something about this,” Mendoza told a press briefing.

Before President Arroyo left the country last Monday, she issued directive to Mendoza “keep the peace and make all situation very normal” while she was away for her five-day swing in the United States and Spain.

Mendoza said the task force, which he heads as chairman, will convene to discuss ways to intensify and heighten security efforts in the light of the ASG attacks in the heart of Basilan province.

“We are meeting… We might do some rapid assessment and do some adjustments,” he said.

He said one battalion of government troops and a specialized unit from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to reinforce the existing Basilan forces have been sent in the area as part of the hot pursuit operations against the ASG.

He branded the bombings of Santa Isabel Cathedral, a school grandstand and three other places that led to the death of 15 people as a “shock attack” perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf to show that “it still a force to reckon with.”

“It’s a deadly propaganda tool of sorts. It should be noted that the ASG has been resorting more frequently to such types of activities since its ranks have been subsequently tore down by successful battlefield operation carried out by the military,” he said.

“From our standpoint, the bombings is just a desperate and perverse attempt of the ASG to demand continued recognition. The standing order of the president is being carried out and every effort is being expanded to fulfill it,” he added.

Mendoza even made an assurance that the ‘test missions’ being conducted by the group will not disrupt the May 10 national and local polls, citing the government’s readiness to counter such attacks.

“We cannot prevent it, but we can respond to it appropriately,” he said.

He said even if the situation in Isabela City returns to normalcy, the government’s hot pursuit operations are ongoing.

He said more additional troops will also be deployed in election hotspots, particular in areas in the strife-torn Mindanao to ensure orderly, peaceful, and credible polls.

Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, director of the Basilan Police, said pockets of resistance were monitored in at least three barangays in Isabela City as the trapped bandits desperately tried to get out of the military and police cordon.

“They splintered into small groups after the attacks yesterday (Tuesday), we are now conducting aggressive pursuit operations,” said Senior Supt. Mendoza.

The police chief said the first gun battle occurred at around 8 a.m. in Barangay Begang when eight ASG fighters engaged the pursuing Marine commandos.

The gunmen, however, stormed several houses in the barangay and took several people hostages, turning them as human shields to prevent soldiers from cornering them.

Similar firefights also broke out in the nearby barangays of Belano and Pangaraan which were supposed to be used as escape routes of the bandits towards the jungles of the nearby towns.

"There are no reported casualties so far, the pursuit operations are on going," said Mendoza.

The official said a total of 100 Marine commandos and 220 policemen were repositioned in the possible escape routes of the bandits.

Rear Admiral Alex Pama, commander of the Joint Task Force Comet, said that three of the 12 fatalities are ASG members who were earlier mistaken as policeman and civilians.

One of them is Bensar Indama, brother of Furuji Indama who is the highest ranking ASG leader in Basilan. His cadaver was recovered at the first explosion site in front of a grandstand at the Basilan National High School.

“He (Bensar Indama) is a subleader but of course his death means something because he is the brother of Furuji,” said Pama.

Pama said five ASG members, two of them, were captured during the series of pursuit and blocking operations around Isabela City.  Mendoza identified two of them as certain Umbak and Enopre.

Thirty minutes later after the 10:30 a.m. blast at the Basilan National High School, Mendoza said another improvised explosive device planted by the ASG near the Sta. Isabel Cathedral in Isabela City went off.

Five people were injured, one of them died while undergoing treatment at the Zamboanga City hospital. Five vehicles and 12 motorcycles were also damaged.

Lieutenant General Ben Mohammad Dolorfino, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said the Basilan incident prompted them to alert their troops in all urban areas in Basilan and even in Zamboanga peninsula.

“We have also enhanced the security in Zamboanga City and other areas, this is to prevent similar incidents,” said Dolorfino.

Meanwhile in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, local residents living near a police and military outpost in Ampatuan, Maguindanao were thrown into a mild panic after suspected members of the disbanded Maguindanao Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO) fired at least 20 rounds of rifle-propelled grenades towards government security outposts in the area on Tuesday night.

Maguindanao police director Senior Supt. Alex Lineses said no one was hurt in the incident but many civilians living near the military outposts were alarmed. Lineses suspects that the attack was meant to scare the civilians and eventually disenfranchise them so they cannot vote in the coming elections.

The grenades were fired towards the advance command post of the Army’s 46th Infantry Battalion (IB) near Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town, Lineses said.

About 15 M-203 grenades landed in the vicinity of the Barangay Labo-Labo detachment while five others were fired towards the Army base at Sitio Masalay. (With a report from Nonoy E. Lacson)