Philippine army soldiers read a copy of the Mindanao Examiner newspaper. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)
Officials blamed the attacks to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels who ambushed a military convoy at around 7:20 p.m. on Thursday near the village of Gulayon in Alicia town.
The soldiers were heading back to their camp in Ipil town when rebels ambushed them, said Army Colonel Santiago Baluyot, commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade.
He said the attack killed four soldiers and wounded six others, and that another soldier is still missing. The military earlier reported that 12 soldiers were missing, but 11 of them had been recovered alive.
Another group of rebels also ambushed a military truck carrying fuel at around 9.30 p.m. in Ipil town, wounding one soldier. They also attacked two hours later a joint police and military patrol in the town, killing four policemen and wounding two others, Baluyot said.
“We are in heightened alert and there is an operation going on to track down rebels responsible for the attacks,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
The motives of the attacks were not immediately known, but military forces on Thursday shelled MILF targets in the town of Payao near Alicia town, Von Al-Haq, a rebel spokesman, said.
“Fighting erupted in Payao after government forces attacked our positions for a still unknown reason,” he said in a separate interview.
Baluyot said the fighting in Payao erupted after rebels attacked police and soldiers who were trying to arrest MILF leaders involved in kidnappings-for-ransom and banditry in the province.
The latest fighting broke out after security and rebel forces clashed Tuesday in nearby province of Basilan and left 19 Special Forces soldiers and five MILF gunmen dead.
The military also launched new operation Thursday to capture rebels blamed for the deadly fighting in Basilan’s Al-Barka town. Both sides accused each other of violating a fragile truce that could affect peace talks between Manila and MILF.
Rebel leaders said government troops stormed an MILF encampment in the village of Cambug. But security officials claimed that rebels ambushed troops sent to the area, a known stronghold of the MILF, to verify the presence of armed men.
Military spokesmen had given the media conflicting reports. They said troops clashed with MILF forces, but later insisted the smaller and notorious Abu Sayyaf militants with ties to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya was responsible for the ambush.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines have ordered an investigation into the fighting and so was the joint cease-fire committee of both the government and MILF peace panels.
Army Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said there is an ongoing operation in Basilan to capture the rebels responsible for the killings of soldiers.
“There is an operation right now against them. They murdered our soldiers and that is no longer covered by the cease-fire agreement because it is purely a criminal act,” Cabangbang said.
Al-Haq said the fighting in Basilan could be a ploy by the military to stall or derail the peace talks. “They know that there is an existing cease-fire agreement yet the military broke this truce and launched an operation in our area,” he said.
Al-Haq said war could erupt in Basilan should government forces attack any of its strongholds in the troubled province, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City.
“If they attack MILF positions then there could be war because our forces will have to defend themselves from aggression,” he said.
The military relieved Colonel Leonardo Peña, commander of the 4th Special Forces Battalion, a day after the clash.
But other security officials also wanted Colonel Alexander Macario, head of the army forces in Basilan, sacked and to investigate the two officers for their role in the operation that almost wiped out troops sent to Al-Barka town for a test mission.
Manila is currently negotiating peace with the MILF and the fighting occurred after negotiations for a Muslim sub-state in Mindanao failed in August.
Peace talks between Manila and the MILF ended in Kuala Lumpur in August 24 without any agreement that would put an end to decades of bloody fighting in Mindanao.
The Aquino government offered the rebels a wider autonomy in Mindanao through a referendum. The MILF, which is fighting for self-determination, said it would pursue a sub-state in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
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