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By Al Jacinto, Correspondent
BASILAN: Government forces shelled Wednesday
suspected encampments of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
rebels on Basilan island.
“Military forces shelled our positions in the
towns of Tipo-Tipo and Ungkaya Pukan, firing at least fifty rounds
of howitzer canons. We have no reports of casualties, but the MILF
is more worried that civilians would be hit by these indiscriminate
attacks by soldiers,” Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator,
told The Manila Times.
The MILF is currently engaged in peace talks
with Manila, but negotiations had bogged down after the government
rejected demands by the rebels to grant them their ancestral lands.
The MILF said troops had been attacking rebel positions in Basilan,
several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City.
Iqbal said the attacks began at dawn, hitting
MILF areas in the villages of Baguindan in Tipo-Tipo town and
Silangkum in Ungkaya Pukan town.
“These attacks totally disregarded the
ceasefire agreement between the MILF and the government,” Iqbal
said.
Marines chief, Gen.Mohammad Dolorfino, denied
the MILF accusations and said security forces are battling the Abu
Sayyaf, a small but notorious group allied with the al-Qaeda terror
network and the Indonesian militant Jemaah Islamiah.
“Yes, we fired canons, but our target is the
Abu Sayyaf. Troops are pursuing the terrorists,” he said.
Dolorfino said soldiers were pursuing the group
of Furuji Indama, tagged by the military as one of those behind the
beheading of 14 marines in Basilan in July last year. Police said
one of Indama’s brothers, Tikboy, and a rebel were killed last
week in fighting between troops and rebels in Ungkaya Pukan.
Another brother, Redwan Indama, was also
implicated in last year’s bombing of the House of Representatives,
which killed several people, including Basilan lawmaker Wahab Akbar.
Fourteen soldiers were wounded in last week’s
fighting, with both the military and the MILF accusing each other of
breaking the truce. The MILF said troops attacked rebels in Basilan
without any provocation.
The MILF has repeatedly warned security forces
to stay away from rebel camps. It said government soldiers had been
encroaching in those areas sparking sporadic clashes. The MILF
accused the Arroyo government of delaying the peace talks after
negotiations were stalled last year over demands for Muslim
ancestral domain.
Rebel leaders said the ancestral domain is the
single most important issue in the peace negotiations before they
can reach a political settlement.
Manila said the provisions of the peace
agreement should be within the framework of the Constitution.
Government negotiators, led by Rodolfo Garcia, had previously
approved the ancestral domain only to renege on the deal later.
Sporadic clashes had been reported in Mindanao
since last month after Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks,
pulled out its truce observers because of the slow progress of the
negotiations. Malaysia has blamed the Arroyo government for the
delay in the talks.
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