COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 5, 2008) – Philippines Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels have stopped a government convoy transporting food aid to a refugee shelter and seized dozens of bags of rice in Mindanao, army officials said Friday.
Colonel Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division, said the MILF forces, led by rebel commander Bonnie Ayunan, intercepted the convoy on Tuesday morning near the village of Linantangan in Maguindanao’s Mamasapano town.
“The rebels carted away sixty bags of rice intended for refugees in the town,” Ando told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said none of the aid workers were harmed, but the rice could have fed many refugees in the village of Libutan where the government put up a temporary shelter for those who fled the fighting between military and rebel forces in Maguindanao, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.
Ando said the rebels fled towards the hinterland village of Dasikil, where a larger MILF forces were waiting. He said the food aid came from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The fighting had already killed more than 200 people and displaced as many as half a million since last month after rebel forces under Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar led a series of attacks on civilian targets in Mindanao after the aborted signing of a territorial deal between the MILF and the government.
Peace talks were stalled and the MILF warned that war could erupt in Mindanao if the negotiations totally collapse. Security forces are pursuing the rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)
Colonel Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division, said the MILF forces, led by rebel commander Bonnie Ayunan, intercepted the convoy on Tuesday morning near the village of Linantangan in Maguindanao’s Mamasapano town.
“The rebels carted away sixty bags of rice intended for refugees in the town,” Ando told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said none of the aid workers were harmed, but the rice could have fed many refugees in the village of Libutan where the government put up a temporary shelter for those who fled the fighting between military and rebel forces in Maguindanao, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.
Ando said the rebels fled towards the hinterland village of Dasikil, where a larger MILF forces were waiting. He said the food aid came from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The fighting had already killed more than 200 people and displaced as many as half a million since last month after rebel forces under Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar led a series of attacks on civilian targets in Mindanao after the aborted signing of a territorial deal between the MILF and the government.
Peace talks were stalled and the MILF warned that war could erupt in Mindanao if the negotiations totally collapse. Security forces are pursuing the rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)
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