COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 16, 2009) – Government forces on Saturday pursued dozens of Moro rebels who pillaged a small Christian community in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said some 50 fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front raided Friday the village of Basak in the town of Lebak in Sultan Kudarat province, burning houses and carting farm animals.
There were no reports of civilian casualties, but the rebels took 20 civilians and used them as shield against village guards and freed them at dawn Saturday, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, a regional army spokesman.
“There is a military operation. Troops are pursuing the rebels responsible for the raid,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
The MILF did not give any statement about the raid, but the military said those who pillaged the village were under the 104th Base Command of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.
Fighting between rebels and military forces continue in Maguindanao province near Sultan Kudarat. Peace talks between the rebels and the government collapsed last year after the failed signing of the Muslim homeland deal.
The MILF has been fighting the government the past decades for the establishment of a separate state for more than four million Muslims in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
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