ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Aug) – The Philippine military on Thursday linked two Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in the killing of 14 Marines in the southern island of Basilan.
The two men were earlier reported to have surrendered to authorities on the island, where thousands of troops are joining the hunt for some 130 others charged with murder for the grisly killing of the soldiers, ten of them beheaded and mutilated in the village of Guinanta.
Security officials identified the rebels as Nasser Tauh and Hajan Sapii, both from the hinterland town of Al-Barka where the soldiers had been killed.
The duo surrendered an M203 automatic rifle with an attached grenade launcher belonging to one of the slain marine.
Officials said the two men surrendered to Mayors Karam Jakilan, of Al-Barka town and Tahira Sansawi, of Lantawan town, after a series of negotiations.
Tauh is a native of Guinanta village and Sapii, from Kuhon village.
Police have filed murder charges against 130 MILF rebels and Abu Sayyaf militants implicated in the killing.
The MILF, which is holding peace talks with Manila, denied beheading the soldiers and pointed to four Abu Sayyaf militants -- Nurhasan Jamiri, Bujari Jamiri, Suaib Kalibon and Umar Indama -- as behind the beheadings.
The fighting in Al-Barka erupted after some 100 Marines entered an MILF stronghold. The MILF said the soldiers violated a fragile truce signed in 2001 between the rebel group and the government. (Mindanao Examiner)
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