NHK Educational, a Japanese production company, produced this documentary of “The War in Iraq: Through Photographers’ Eyes”. Conflict photographers James Nachtwey, Christopher Morris, Gary Knight and Christopher Anderson share their observations of the war in Iraq through their photos and their words.
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In the early morning hours of 14 March 2005, 10 members of the Abu Sayyaf group (ASG) detained at Camp Bagong Diwa overpowered jail guards and took over the facility. They had taken over a building housing 129 Abu Sayyaf members. The group had demanded for a) rights to speedy trial; b) more visitation rights; c) to speak to actor Robin Padilla, a Muslim-convert, and a Mindanao congressman; and, d) access to the media among others.
Although police authorities had agreed to the demands, the stand-off continued. At approximately 9AM the following morning, Secretary Angelo Reyes of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced to the media that the group would be given 15 minutes to peacefully surrender. With no signs of complying with the ultimatum, flash bombs were exploded at approximately 9:15AM to signal the start of the assault. Tear gas was deployed and fire trucks were brought into the jail yard to hose down those affected by the tear gas.
After nearly two hours of gunfight, 23 people died in the assault. Among those killed were 3 top Abu Sayyaf leaders — Galib Andang, alias Commander Robot; Alhamser Limbong, alias Commander Kosovo; and Nadjmi Sabdulla, alias Commander Global.
