MAGUINDANAO CITY, Philippine (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 22, 2008) – Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels killed at least six government soldiers and wounded nine more in fierce fighting in the southern Philippines.
The MILF said rebel forces attacked government troops in the village of Muslim in Maguindanao's Guindulongan town on Tuesday. "Four army soldiers were killed and three others wounded when a group of MILF mujahideen staged an ambush," it said.
Fighting also erupted in Poona Piagapo town in Lanao del Sur province on Tuesday that left two soldiers dead and six others wounded. One rebel was reportedly killed in the fighting.
Security forces were pursuing rebels under Ameril Kato, Abdullah Macapaar and Sulayman Pangalian who blamed for the series of deadly attacks in Mindanao.
Macapaar on Monday surfaced and warned of more hostilities in Mindanao until the Arroyo government honors its commitment to the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group fighting for self-determination the past three decades.
Macapaar was referring to the aborted signing August 5 of the territorial deal between Manila and the MILF after the Supreme Court ruled the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was unconstitutional.
The deal would have granted more than four million Muslims their own homeland across more 700 villages in Mindanao.
"We want to have peace in Mindanao. It is good that the MOA-AD was not signed because now we want independence for the Bangsamoro people in Mindanao. We are willing to risk our lives until we achieve peace and Islamic justice in Mindanao," Macapaar said.
He accused President Arroyo of reneging on the peace agreement. He warned that rebels will resort to aggression until Manila cedes control of Mindanao to the Bangsamoro people, which refer to the Muslim inhabitants of Mindanao.
The military criticized Macapaar for his statement and the killings of civilians by his group were against the teachings of Islam.
"More than anything else, the statements given by Macapaar, justifying their ruthless attack against unarmed and hapless civilians, the pillaging of their properties and the burning of their houses in Lanao del Norte manifest the psychological conditioning that they underwent. To remove their guilt, he and his followers have dehumanized their victims," said Col. Daniel Lucero, commander of the Army's Civil-Relations Group.
Army Captain Mohdee Pulalon, a former Muslim rebel, also accused Macapaar of murdering innocent civilians. "His statements, justifying these killings and terrorist acts as a divine calling are blasphemous. Killing of innocent people is against Islam," he said. (Mindanao Examiner)
No comments:
Post a Comment