DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 11, 2008) – Eight people were killed in separate attacks Saturday by rebel forces in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said.
Army Major Armand Rico, a spokesman of the Eastern Mindanao Command headquarters, said Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels attacked the village of Sangay in Sultan Kudarat's Kalamansig town at around 4 a.m., killing four civilians and a policeman and wounding three civilians.
The attack, which triggered a firefight, also killed one rebel, he said, but MILF forces also took two villagers and used them as shield against pursuing government forces.
“The MILF rebels are killing people wantonly in the area,” the spokesman said.
He said communist insurgents also ambushed a KM450 military truck and killed to army soldiers in the village of Dagohoy in the town of Talaingod in Davao del Norte province.
The attack occurred at around 9.15 a.m. as troops were on their way to bring provisions to government forces pursuing New People's Army insurgents in the province. “The insurgents attacked troops who were only bringing food supplies to soldiers. Two good soldiers perished in the attack,” Rico said.
The MILF is the country's largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate homeland in Mindanao, while the NPA is also fighting to overthrow the democratic government and install a Maoist state in the Philippines.
The military said both rebel groups have in the past forged an alliance to fight the military and train each other forces. The MILF has previously loaned the NPA rocket-propelled grenade launchers and in return communist insurgents trained Moro rebels in guerilla warfare in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
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