MANILA, Aug. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The Armed Forces of Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Generoso Senga has ordered an intensified fight against terrorists in Mindanao, even as the Navy has deployed a battalion of fresh Marines there to crush the Abu Sayyaf group, military sources told Xinhua on Wednesday.

    "We'll adjust accordingly (to the terrorist threat). We'll try to improve more our capabilities, our readiness, our support system and the like," said Senga, who assumed the top AFP post on Aug. 16.

    Senga said he was briefed by members of the military joint staff last Saturday and he decided to adopt necessary adjustments to cope with the prevailing threat in the south of the country, especially Mindanao.

    Meanwhile, Navy chief Ernesto de Leon Wednesday sent off elements of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 1 at the Navy headquarters in Manila for Western Mindanao, to fight against the Abu Sayyaf, said Navy spokesman.

    Latest intelligence reports disclosed that about 30 to 40 members of the Southeast Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) are currently operating in Mindanao. The JI is being blamed for a number of attacks in the country.

    There are over 400 members of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, which has links with JI and al-Qaida network, operating in the Philippines, concentrated mostly in the Western Mindanao area. Enditem