COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 2, 2008) – Muslim rebels attacked military and government targets in North Cotabato province as sporadic fighting continue in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters attacked an army post and a power pylon late Tuesday in the hinterlands of Pikit town, scene of fierce clashes between rebel and military forces since last month.
“The rebels attacked military and government targets, but no one was injured or killed. The MILF has been attacking our troops and bombing pylons in Mindanao,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.
But the MILF blamed the military for the hostilities, saying, troops attacked areas controlled by rebels. “It is the military, not us who should be blamed. Soldiers are firing on us,” Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, said.
He said hundreds of government soldiers have been deployed near MILF camps in the provinces, increasing tension in Mindanao.
Armed Forces chief Alexander Yano has told security forces to use considerable force against MILF attacks. Fighting between soldiers and rebels still continue despite a cease-fire accord. Military and rebel leaders have accused each other of violating the truce.
Peace talks were stalled last year after Manila rejected demands by rebels to grant them ancestral lands that would comprise a separate Muslim homeland in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich Mindanao Island.
President Gloria Arroyo in 2001 opened up peace talks with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim secessionist rebel group, in an effort to end more than four decades of hostilities in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters attacked an army post and a power pylon late Tuesday in the hinterlands of Pikit town, scene of fierce clashes between rebel and military forces since last month.
“The rebels attacked military and government targets, but no one was injured or killed. The MILF has been attacking our troops and bombing pylons in Mindanao,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.
But the MILF blamed the military for the hostilities, saying, troops attacked areas controlled by rebels. “It is the military, not us who should be blamed. Soldiers are firing on us,” Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, said.
He said hundreds of government soldiers have been deployed near MILF camps in the provinces, increasing tension in Mindanao.
Armed Forces chief Alexander Yano has told security forces to use considerable force against MILF attacks. Fighting between soldiers and rebels still continue despite a cease-fire accord. Military and rebel leaders have accused each other of violating the truce.
Peace talks were stalled last year after Manila rejected demands by rebels to grant them ancestral lands that would comprise a separate Muslim homeland in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich Mindanao Island.
President Gloria Arroyo in 2001 opened up peace talks with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim secessionist rebel group, in an effort to end more than four decades of hostilities in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
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