COTABATO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 14 Jun) The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, denied Wednesday that it was behind the raid on a military post in South Cotabato province in the main island of Mindanao.
Von Al-Haq, the chairman of the MILF's Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), said rebel forces were not involved in the weekend attack after Philippine media reported that guerrillas raided an army detachment manned by government militias in Tupi town.
Security officials in Manila tagged the MILF as behind the attack, but the military's Southern Command in Zamboanga City said lawless elements were responsible for the raid in the province, a known rebel stronghold. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
"More or less 40 lawless elements, armed with assorted high-powered firearms, harassed the detachment. The firefight lasted for almost 15 minutes. The enemies retreated and troops were scouring the area. There were no reports of casualties on both sides," said Capt. Jose Ritche Pabilonia, a spokesman for the Southern Command.
Al-Haq said gunmen attacked the detachment after a soldier slapped a 14-year old Muslim boy, Morsed Sampulna, who was arrested on suspicion of stealing pineapples inside the Dole plantation in the village of Sumbakil on Saturday.
The boy had been later freed by soldiers, but was told to bring his relatives if they wanted revenge. "It is not a firefight between MILF and government forces, but the direct offshoot of this slapping incident," Al-Haq said.
The MILF identified the soldier only by his rank and surname as Sergeant Ulalisan, of the Philippine Army, who is among those assigned to guard the vast pineapple plantation.
It was the first time the MILF has publicly denied involvement in the raid.
Fighting between rebels and government militias are common in the southern Philippines, especially in areas where the MILF is strong, but many of the clashes were triggered by family or clan feud. Many militias were also acting as bodyguards of politicians and wealthy traders in the restive region.
Manila opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001, but despite the truce, rebel and security forces still clashed with both sides accusing each other of violating the cease-fire. The MILF is fighting for a separate Islamic state in Mindanao, home to about 4 million Muslims.
Von Al-Haq, the chairman of the MILF's Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), said rebel forces were not involved in the weekend attack after Philippine media reported that guerrillas raided an army detachment manned by government militias in Tupi town.
Security officials in Manila tagged the MILF as behind the attack, but the military's Southern Command in Zamboanga City said lawless elements were responsible for the raid in the province, a known rebel stronghold. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
"More or less 40 lawless elements, armed with assorted high-powered firearms, harassed the detachment. The firefight lasted for almost 15 minutes. The enemies retreated and troops were scouring the area. There were no reports of casualties on both sides," said Capt. Jose Ritche Pabilonia, a spokesman for the Southern Command.
Al-Haq said gunmen attacked the detachment after a soldier slapped a 14-year old Muslim boy, Morsed Sampulna, who was arrested on suspicion of stealing pineapples inside the Dole plantation in the village of Sumbakil on Saturday.
The boy had been later freed by soldiers, but was told to bring his relatives if they wanted revenge. "It is not a firefight between MILF and government forces, but the direct offshoot of this slapping incident," Al-Haq said.
The MILF identified the soldier only by his rank and surname as Sergeant Ulalisan, of the Philippine Army, who is among those assigned to guard the vast pineapple plantation.
It was the first time the MILF has publicly denied involvement in the raid.
Fighting between rebels and government militias are common in the southern Philippines, especially in areas where the MILF is strong, but many of the clashes were triggered by family or clan feud. Many militias were also acting as bodyguards of politicians and wealthy traders in the restive region.
Manila opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001, but despite the truce, rebel and security forces still clashed with both sides accusing each other of violating the cease-fire. The MILF is fighting for a separate Islamic state in Mindanao, home to about 4 million Muslims.
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Dear fellows,
We really do not make a lot of fuzz over our stories and photos being used by another newspapers or television or magazines and even news agencies provided that Zamboanga Journal (http://zamboangajournal.com) is properly credited.
We ran this story earlier and filed it with the GMANews.TV in Manila, and later found out that China's news agency Xinhua used the same piece, of course with a little editing and little of these and a little of those and voila
Here is the Xinxua dispatch as posted on the People's Daily Online, and without credits!
MILF denies involvement in violent attack on Philippine troops
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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front ( MILF), which is in current peace talks with the Philippine government, denied Wednesday that it was behind the violent attack on a military camp in South Cotabato Province, the southern island of Mindanao.
Von Al-Haq, the chairman of the MILF's Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), told reporters in Zamboanga City, Mindanao that MILF was not involved in the weekend attack.
Al-Haq said that the attack was supposedly triggered by a dispute between local residents and the government militia in the camp.
It was the first time the MILF publicly denied their involvement in the reported violence.
Local reports earlier said that guerrillas raided an Army detachment in Tupi town. Security officials in Manila tagged the MILF as behind the attack, violating a cease-fire agreement, according to the same reports.
The military's Southern Command in Zamboanga City, however, said "lawless elements" were responsible for the raid, without naming the group possibly involved.
Fighting between rebels and government militias are common in the southern Philippines, analysts said, especially in areas where the MILF is strong, but many of the clashes were triggered by family or clan feud.
Many militias were also acting as bodyguards of politicians and wealthy businessmen in the region, they said.
Since 1997, the MILF has been negotiating with the government to end a nearly four-decade conflict that has killed thousands of people in the southern region, but rebel and security forces still clashed from time to time.
Both sides accuse each other of violating the cease-fire. The MILF is fighting for a separate Islamic state in Mindanao. The government is hopeful that the final peace accord could be reached this year, resolving the issue of Muslim ancestral domain.
Source: Xinhua
We hope that Zamboanga Journal will be credited for its stories and images in the future in case Xinhua use our news.
Thanks.
Al Jacinto
Ed.Zamboanga Journal
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