Fighting Erupts In North Cotabato, Troops Foil Bombing Anew

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 15, 2008) – Government troops disarmed a homemade bomb planted near a school in the southern Philippine province of North Cotabato, where fresh fighting between security and rebel forces erupted on Friday, officials said.

There were no reports of casualties from both sides, but officials said the clashes broke out in Midsayap and Pigkawayan towns, where troops are deployed to oversee the safe return of civilians who were displaced by fighting earlier this week.

“Apparently the rebels are just around, but troops are still in the province to ensure the safety of civilians,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army's 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner. Rebels reportedly attacked patrolling troops and a military post in the towns, sparking sporadic clashes.

The MILF said the renewed fighting was triggered by government attacks on rebel forces in the towns. It said militias also burned houses owned by Muslim villagers in the area. “MILF forces are just defending themselves from further attacks,” Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said in a separate interview.

Kabalu also denied reports that the MILF was behind attempts to bomb civilian targets in North Cotabato. “We have nothing to do with all these bombs. Thousands of soldiers and policemen are all over North Cotabato, but surprisingly explosives are discovered almost everyday. This is hate campaign aimed at the MILF,” he said without further elaborating.

Authorities are in high alert in North Cotabato after civilians on Friday discovered a bomb in Mlang town, a day after policemen arrested a would-be-attacker and believed to be a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front at the town’s market after a homemade bomb he was carrying in a bag exploded prematurely.

On Thursday, soldiers also defused a powerful bomb at a bus depot in North Cotabato’s Kidapawan City. The province had been attacked in the past by Muslim rebels and members of the Indonesian terror group called Jemaah Islamiya and the local militant groups Abu Sayyaf and the Al-Khobar.

Troops on Wednesday regained control of 15 villages in North Cotabato province after a weeklong battle with MILF forces that left more than two dozen rebels and soldiers dead and wounded and over 160,000 people fleeing their homes.

Some 800 rebels occupied the villages after clashing with government militias over a land dispute and the fighting eventually spread to other areas. (Mindanao Examiner)