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By Al Jacinto, Correspondent
ZAMBOANGA CITY: Fierce fighting erupted
Wednesday between government troops and Muslim rebels in Mindanao
with both sides reporting as many as 14 people dead.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels said
four army soldiers were killed in the fighting near Maguindanao, one
of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region. Clashes also
broke out in Sarangani province, southeast of Maguindanao, said Eid
Kabalu, a rebel spokesman.
The Army’s 6th Infantry Division said 10
rebels were slain in the clashes.
Kabalu said government troops attacked MILF
positions in Maguindanao and Sarangani provinces, sparking sporadic
but fierce clashes between military and rebel forces.
He accused the military of violating a fragile
truce that could further put at risk peace negotiations between the
MILF and Manila. “The fighting could threaten the peace talks
should hostilities escalate to other areas. Troops are attacking our
positions without provocations,” Kabalu said.
Peace talks have been stalled since last year
after government negotiators agreed, but later reneged on a deal
that would give back Muslims their ancestral lands in the southern
Philippines.
“MILF leaders are getting restless because of
the government’s insincerity to the peace process and we don’t
want this aggravated by continued military violations of the truce
agreement,” Kabalu said.
Maj. Julieto Ando, a regional army spokesman,
denied that four soldiers were killed in the fighting. “Civilian
intelligence said ten rebels were slain in the fighting. No
government soldiers were injured or killed in the clashes,” he
said in a separate interview.
Ando said the fighting was triggered by rebel
attacks on military posts and soldiers in the two provinces.
“Rebel forces attacked military posts with mortars and anti-tank
rockets and troops only retaliated in self-defense,” he said.
Ando said the attacks by rebels coincided with
military operation to rescue stranded civilians in many areas hit by
flash floods brought about by typhoon frank in Maguindanao, Shariff
Kabunsuan and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
Sarangani update
Some 3,000 civilians, mostly women and children,
left their homes in a coastal town in Sarangani as government troops
and suspected MILF combatants exchange gunfire starting early dawn
on Wednesday.
Senior Supt. Danilo Peralta, Sarangani police
director, said the local government of Maitum temporarily
accommodated the evacuees in schools and other government buildings
in Barangay Poblacion and Maguling, as additional government troops
of the Army’s 27th infantry battalion and police Special Action
Force and Regional Mobile Group went to reinforce the government
troops in Barangay Ticulab.
Reports indicated that the separatist group had
attacked the army detachments in Mindupok and Maguling, which
started the fierce fighting. As of this writing, a cadaver was
recovered in the frontlines, suspected to be an MILF combatant.
Vice Gov. Steve Solon called for a crisis
meeting with all barangay captains to coordinate the assistance to
be extended to remaining families currently trapped in the combat
zone.
Another military spokesman, Maj. Armand Rico
said one civilian had been slain in the violence. “A firefight is
still going on and troops are holding defensive positions,” he
said, citing the military post near Maitum.
-- With Isagani P. Palma and AFP
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