COTABATO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 04 Jul) Two Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) soldiers were killed in a military assault near a major rebel base in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, as sporadic, but fierce clashes are now threatening to derail the 5-year old government peace talks with Muslim rebels in the restive region.
Sporadic fighting continued in Shariff Aguak town and three other areas in Maguindanao province, where rebels are actively operating. "Two of our fighters are killed in the military attack near the MILF's Camp Omar. We have a total of four soldiers martyred," Eid Kabalu, an MILF spokesman, told the Zamboanga Journal.
He said the Monday assault violated a fragile cease-fire agreement. The fighting, Kabalu said, is threatening the peace talks. "The situation right now is very volatile and tense and the continued attacks on MILF areas would harm the peace process and we are holding our line and rebel forces are fighting back only in self-defense," Kabalu said.
The military's Southern Command did not give any statement about the attack on Camp Omar.
The MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, said paramilitary forces working for the powerful Andal Ampatuan, the governor of Maguindanao, attacked the rebel base Camp Omar in retaliation to the killing of the politician's nephew in a roadside bombing last month.
The politician escaped a roadside bomb attack in Shariff Aguak, but five people, one of them his relative, was killed and 14 others injured in what authorities claimed was the handiwork of the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate Islamic state in the south.
The rebel group denied it was behind the bombing and claimed militias simultaneously attacked MILF strongholds with mortars in retaliation to the killing of Ampatuan's relative.
The military said the clashes began when police tried to arrest two MILF commanders who were tagged as behind the bombing in Shariff Aguak. It said rebels fired rockets on an army post, manned by soldiers and militias, in the village of Koloy in Shariff Aguak, sparking a firefight that spread to four other villages.
The governor, a staunch ally of President Gloria Arroyo, could not be reached for comment, but Nori Unas, the provincial administrator, said the bombing targeted the governor who was unhurt in the blast. The bomb, he said, was left near a parked vehicle on the market where the politician's convoy had passed. "The governor was obviously the target of the attack," he said.
The military earlier demanded the MILF to pull out its soldiers in Shariff Aguak town, but Kabalu said authorities should first disarm the militias and seize their weapons because many of them were acting as private armies of politicians.
Murad Ebharim, the secluded chieftain of the MILF, on Monday has ordered rebel forces in Maguindanao to remain inside their camps and defend only themselves from attacks. "The order of Brother Murad is for the rebels to stay put and defend their positions," Kabalu said.
Kabalu said the MILF's Camp Omar is home to tens of thousands of rebels and their supporters and straddles the towns of Shariff Aguak, Datu Piang, Kabuntalan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in Maguindanao and the towns of Midsayap and Aleosan in North Cotabato province.
But the military said the MILF controls no area. "There are no so-called MILF territories or camps. There is only one democratic government," said an army commander involved in the operation against the MILF in Maguindanao.
The MILF said rebel forces have killed and wounded dozens of militias in the fighting since last week. He said MILF fighters also captured an army command base used by militias to attack MILF forces in Shariff Aguak.
In February, security and rebel forces clashed for weeks in Shariff Aguak and left more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.
President Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of bloody fighting in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich Mindanao.
Sporadic fighting continued in Shariff Aguak town and three other areas in Maguindanao province, where rebels are actively operating. "Two of our fighters are killed in the military attack near the MILF's Camp Omar. We have a total of four soldiers martyred," Eid Kabalu, an MILF spokesman, told the Zamboanga Journal.
He said the Monday assault violated a fragile cease-fire agreement. The fighting, Kabalu said, is threatening the peace talks. "The situation right now is very volatile and tense and the continued attacks on MILF areas would harm the peace process and we are holding our line and rebel forces are fighting back only in self-defense," Kabalu said.
The military's Southern Command did not give any statement about the attack on Camp Omar.
The MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, said paramilitary forces working for the powerful Andal Ampatuan, the governor of Maguindanao, attacked the rebel base Camp Omar in retaliation to the killing of the politician's nephew in a roadside bombing last month.
The politician escaped a roadside bomb attack in Shariff Aguak, but five people, one of them his relative, was killed and 14 others injured in what authorities claimed was the handiwork of the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate Islamic state in the south.
The rebel group denied it was behind the bombing and claimed militias simultaneously attacked MILF strongholds with mortars in retaliation to the killing of Ampatuan's relative.
The military said the clashes began when police tried to arrest two MILF commanders who were tagged as behind the bombing in Shariff Aguak. It said rebels fired rockets on an army post, manned by soldiers and militias, in the village of Koloy in Shariff Aguak, sparking a firefight that spread to four other villages.
The governor, a staunch ally of President Gloria Arroyo, could not be reached for comment, but Nori Unas, the provincial administrator, said the bombing targeted the governor who was unhurt in the blast. The bomb, he said, was left near a parked vehicle on the market where the politician's convoy had passed. "The governor was obviously the target of the attack," he said.
The military earlier demanded the MILF to pull out its soldiers in Shariff Aguak town, but Kabalu said authorities should first disarm the militias and seize their weapons because many of them were acting as private armies of politicians.
Murad Ebharim, the secluded chieftain of the MILF, on Monday has ordered rebel forces in Maguindanao to remain inside their camps and defend only themselves from attacks. "The order of Brother Murad is for the rebels to stay put and defend their positions," Kabalu said.
Kabalu said the MILF's Camp Omar is home to tens of thousands of rebels and their supporters and straddles the towns of Shariff Aguak, Datu Piang, Kabuntalan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in Maguindanao and the towns of Midsayap and Aleosan in North Cotabato province.
But the military said the MILF controls no area. "There are no so-called MILF territories or camps. There is only one democratic government," said an army commander involved in the operation against the MILF in Maguindanao.
The MILF said rebel forces have killed and wounded dozens of militias in the fighting since last week. He said MILF fighters also captured an army command base used by militias to attack MILF forces in Shariff Aguak.
In February, security and rebel forces clashed for weeks in Shariff Aguak and left more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.
President Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of bloody fighting in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich Mindanao.
2 comments:
This is a dilemma. Cease-fire Agreement stops the troops from going to the MILF area, but the Justice must be enforce. Is MILF exempt from any laws? Are MILF allowed to get away with crimes if the goverment troops intelligence are credible and authoritative? Justice must be serve. Arrest does not mean MILF commited the bombings. To be able to find the real truth on the bombings, the Arrest is needed. Until the due process of the law was done, the real truth on the bombings will never come out. Why can't MILF allow the due process? If MILF are truly innocent, MILF will be cleared of the bombings charges. There is no need for violence. That is if MILF have nothing to hide.
This bombings looks very similar to the recent bombings of the Governor on Batangas. Looks like same signature. Only the intelligence knows the differece. I guess. It may also be possible that someone wants to frame up MILF.
Peace to all.
Dear Muhammad,
Thank you for your comment.
Mabuhay!
Ed.Zamboanga Journal
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