Gunman Kills Wife Of Maguindanao MILF Bombing Suspect

MAGUINDANAO (Juan Magtanggol / 06 Jul) A lone gunman killed in a broad daylight attack the wife of one of two senior Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader tagged as behind a failed assassination on the powerful governor of Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines, the military said Thursday.

The military said Nora Pakiladatu was gunned down shortly before noontime Wednesday in Cotabato City. "The case is under investigation by the Cotabato police," Captain Jose Ritche Pabilonia, spokesman of the Southern Command, said in a report.

The woman was the wife of Zaid (also known as Sajid) Pakiladato, deputy chief of the MILF's 105th Base Command in Camp Omar in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao, where rebel and pro-government militias were fighting since last week.

"This is very sad. You don't kill Muslim women. We condemn the killing," Eid Kabalu, the MILF spokesman, told the Zamboanga Journal.

He said the woman, on her way to the mosque, was shot inside her van in the busy business district of Cotabato. "Her family blamed the killing to the ongoing clashes in Shariff Aguak," Kabalu said without further elaborating, but he claimed the attack came just hours after Zaid, in a radio interview in Cotabato City, denied any involvement in the June 23 bombing in Shariff Aguak town.

The bombing wounded 14 people and police and military blamed Pakiladato and Jamil Ombra, commander of the 105th Base Command, as behind the attack. The target of the bombing was allegedly the governor.

Prior to Pakiladato's killing, gunmen had also assassinated a woman Kaushar Daud near the area. Her unidentified sister survived the attack and the military said both were in the van when gunmen opened fire on Daud. It was unknown if the twin killings were connected or not.

Kabalu, quoting witnesses, said Pakiladato's attacker walked right on the side of her van and without any warning shot the woman several times at close range with a .45-caliber pistol. "He walked right up there and shot her just right there in the middle of the busy traffic and fled on a motorcycle," he said.

The latest killing had worsened the already tense situation in Maguindanao where pro-government militias allegedly executed at least 3 captured MILF rebels in Shariff Aguak town, where clashes between the two groups continue.

"Three of our members were executed, probably tortured first and then killed by musketry by militias. The fighting is going and there is no sign of it ever stopping today or tomorrow. The situation now is chaotic and there are fighting in several fronts," Kabalu said.

Kabalu accused armed civilians and militias loyal to Ampatuan as behind simultaneous attacks on a major MILF headquarters Camp Omar in the town in retaliation to the bombing.

Ampatuan, a former rebel leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), escaped unhurt, but the bombing killed nephew. Police ordered the arrest of Ombra and Pakiladato, but the MILF denied the accusations and refused to surrender the duo.

Kabalu said fighting on Wednesday was fierce in Shariff Aguak, but continued sporadically the next day. Previous fighting was also reported in Datu Piang, Datu Unsay and Mamasapano towns, all in Maguindanao. "These clashes have already displaced more than 2,000 families," he said.

The MILF accused militias of torching houses of civilians who were supporters of the rebel group in Shariff Aguak. "The militias torched dozens of thatched houses; those owned by MILF supporters or relatives of rebels and these atrocities add up to the problems in Maguindanao," Kabalu said.

Rebel forces have killed and wounded dozens of militias in the clashes since last week, Kabalu said, adding, at least eight MILF fighters were also killed.

More militias from other towns in Maguindanao have arrived in Shariff Aguak and were reportedly preparing to assault Camp Omar to flush out the two wanted rebel leaders.

The MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group, is currently negotiating peace with Manila and protected by a five-year old truce agreement, Kabalu said. "The continued fighting could have a serious implication in the peace talks and clashes must stop immediately," he said.

Philippine leader Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the military to coordinate with the Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) to maintain peace and order in Maguindanao.

Arroyo also instructed the military to work closely with government relief agencies and the local governments to address the plight of thousands of Muslim evacuees and ensure their safe return to their homes. Government spokespersons said the fighting between the rebels and militias was an isolated case and have not affected the current peace talks.

"The government is determined to pursue peace and development while taking all effective means to stop terrorism and bringing to justice those who have engaged in bombings and depredations," said Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye.

"We are resolved to forge peace, defeat terror and fight poverty through the full implementation of our development programs in the region with the active support and participation of all our strategic allies in the international community," he said.

Murad Ebharim, chieftain of the MILF, ordered rebel forces in Maguindanao to remain inside their camps and defend only themselves from attacks.

Kabalu said Camp Omar, which straddles in 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, is home to tens of thousands of rebels and their supporters.

"There is no assurance at this time that the fighting would ever stop as long as the militias continue attacking us," he said.

Fighting in February between rebels and militias in Shariff Aguak also 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.