Sorry, I should have posted in that thread. The link is a reference to the statement by the SAF chief which is an update on the situtation. The police where in a fire fight that lasted over 10 hours, they repeated asked for help. Part of the controversy is there was an Army unit close by in the area, but despite requesting for help, the Army refused to assist. After the 10 hour hour firefight the police ran out of ammo and then they where over run.
There is also the question where are the MILF getting their arms. The force that attacked allegedly numbered over 300, and they had enough ammo to fight a 10 hour fire fight. The question comes in how are they getting supplied etc. This seems to indicate that they are stronger then the offical reports.
The region is a potential hotspot, since it borders Indonesia and is close to Malaysia. The Philippines and Malaysia are in a dispute over Sabah region, which also many Muslims living in the area.
Just to correct certain misconceptions: the incident wasn't a misencounter - it was a deliberate trap.
Here's the thing: the SAF operations already had the sanction of the big-wigs of the national office and the president himself knew what was going on. However, since it's supposedly a "covert" one, then you obviously can't blab about it to other police stations and military units. The "no coordination" thing was obviously an excuse because it ended up botched.
The main goal of the covert operation was to find leads if not retrieve the two Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists who're currently housed by the MILF.
The operation failed for obvious reasons:
(1) lack of strategy, thorough planning and preparation on the side of the SAF
(2) complacency (they were still in the data gathering process and were expecting the MILF forces to honor the peace pact and the ceasefire agreement)
(3) the MILF betrayed the trust that was supposedly established by the pact
(4) the MILF connived with the BIFF (they're obviously the ones who cornered the SAF when they retreated from the MILF)
I wouldn't discount the possibility of a traitor within their ranks. For a covert operation to fail that badly, resulting to near-annihilation of the police troops, it only means one thing: someway, somehow MILF members got wind of it and were able to plan an ambush with the BIFF just in time. How? Only the traitor knows the details.
What's really bothering me is that the MILF agreed to sign the agreement yet still had the gall to welcome terrorists into their fold. From the outset, the MILF already broke the treaty long before it was implemented.