COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 15, 2009) – Two government militias were killed in ambush before dawn Wednesday in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, officials said.
Officials blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for the attack that occurred at around 1.30 a.m. in the village of Elian in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town.
The two militias were in separate tricycle and motorcycle when they came under fire, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, a spokesman for the army’s 6th Infantry Division.
“They were fired upon by MILF forces,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
The identities of the slain militias were not immediately known. Ponce did not say the motive of the attack.
The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for independence in Mindanao, did not give any statement about the accusations.
Peace talks between Manila and the MILF had collapsed last year after the failed signing of the Muslim homeland deal.
But despite the failed peace talks, a fragile truce is still holding between the two sides, although sporadic clashes continue in some parts of the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
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