MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 1, 2008) – Philippine soldiers killed at least 19 Moro rebels in a sporadic, but fierce clashes that also left 3 infantrymen wounded in the restive Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao, an army spokesman said Saturday.
Officials said Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces launched simultaneous attacks Friday on government troops in the towns of Mamasapano and Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao, one of six provinces under the autonomous region.
“At least 19 rebels were killed in the clashes and we have already identified three of the slain gunmen. Three of our soldiers are also wounded in the fighting,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, of the 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the rebels were under Ameril Kato, one of three MILF leaders implicated in the series of deadly attacks on civilian targets in Mindanao since August.
The MILF denied that 19 rebels were slain in the fighting. “That’s not true. It is just one of the military’s propaganda,” said Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader.
Troops were also pursuing Abdullah Macapaar and Sulayman Pangalian, tagged as behind attacks in North Cotabato and Sarangani provinces in recent months.
The military previously said that Kato and Macapaar were on the run and without munitions because of the continued government offensives and in several occasions claimed the rebel leaders had been killed in separate fighting.
But both Kato and Macapaar later surfaced separately and held their own clandestine media interview and vowed to launch more attacks and at the same time dared the military to get them.
Manila suspended peace talks with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for self-determination in Mindanao, after the rebel attacks in August.
Officials said Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces launched simultaneous attacks Friday on government troops in the towns of Mamasapano and Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao, one of six provinces under the autonomous region.
“At least 19 rebels were killed in the clashes and we have already identified three of the slain gunmen. Three of our soldiers are also wounded in the fighting,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, of the 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the rebels were under Ameril Kato, one of three MILF leaders implicated in the series of deadly attacks on civilian targets in Mindanao since August.
The MILF denied that 19 rebels were slain in the fighting. “That’s not true. It is just one of the military’s propaganda,” said Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader.
Troops were also pursuing Abdullah Macapaar and Sulayman Pangalian, tagged as behind attacks in North Cotabato and Sarangani provinces in recent months.
The military previously said that Kato and Macapaar were on the run and without munitions because of the continued government offensives and in several occasions claimed the rebel leaders had been killed in separate fighting.
But both Kato and Macapaar later surfaced separately and held their own clandestine media interview and vowed to launch more attacks and at the same time dared the military to get them.
Manila suspended peace talks with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for self-determination in Mindanao, after the rebel attacks in August.
The attacks were triggered by the failed signing of the Muslim territorial deal between the MILF and the government. The deal would have granted more than four million Muslims their own homeland across 700 villages in the troubled region, but the agreement also sparked massive protests from residents and politicians opposed to the accord.
The Supreme Court recently declared the ancestral domain deal unconstitutional. (Mindanao Examiner)
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