The Philippine military Monday said that it will not reduce the offensive against three most wanted terrorists in the southern island of Sulu despite the Ramadan.

The military has deployed additional 120 elite troops to the jungles of Sulu to help hunt Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and his two Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) cohorts, Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon told reporters at a briefing.

The new troops arrived on Sunday night from Davao, Mindanao, to augment the 6,000-strong military forces already in place in Sulu, he said.

The military chief rejected calls to stop the offensive in view of the Ramadan, the Muslims' month-long holy celebration that started last Saturday.

"The offensive will go on, because terrorism doesn't respect any religion," said Esperon, adding that he conducted dialogue with local government and residents in Sulu about two weeks ago that the military is firm on its stand to continue the offensive despite the observance of Ramadan.

The troops have been pursuing the group of Janjalani in the outskirts of two Sulu towns since Aug. 1. Dulmatin and Patek, the two JI members are allegedly responsible for 2002 Bali bombing in Indonesia and believed to be hiding with Janjalani in Sulu.

Source: Xinhua