Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Military weapons seized by MILF; 24 killed in Basilan battle

A Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighter guards a checkpoint in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 19, 2011) – Muslim rebels who clashed with security troops in the southern Philippines said they seized more than two dozen automatic weapons from government forces.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, said government troops who stormed a guerilla base, were almost wiped out in Tuesday fighting in Basilan province that lasted more than 8 hours.

Von al-Haq, a rebel spokesman, said five guerillas were killed and that four others wounded in the fighting, including a villager who was hit by shrapnel from government shelling in the town of Al-Barka, a known stronghold of the MILF.

“The battle was fierce and MILF forces bravely defended the camp from government troops who attacked our positions in Al-Barka,” he told the Mindanao Examiner. “MILF forces recovered so many weapons, at least 27, mostly high powered assault rifles, including an M60 machine gun.”

Security officials said a total of 19 soldiers were killed and 13 more wounded, and 3 others are still missing in the fighting.

"We have recovered the bodies of six soldiers earlier reported as missing, and that brought to 19 the total numbers of military casualties so far. We recovered another wounded soldier who was also among those listed as missing-in-action," Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said in a separate interview.

Al-Haq said rebel forces have taken to prisoners and the missing soldiers were probably dead. “We have taken no prisoners. Our forces cordoned off a platoon of soldiers and they were almost wiped out in the fighting. Another group of government soldiers was also attacked and many of them ran away and escaped,” he said, quoting an MILF report from Al-Barka town.

He said three missing soldiers were reported to have surfaced in the town of Tipo-Tipo, but this could not be immediately confirmed.

The MILF accused the military of violating a fragile truce when it ordered an assault on the rebel base, but army officials claimed that guerillas ambushed troops who were sent to the area to verify the presence of armed men.

“The joint cease-fire committee and the ad hoc joint action group are investigating the fighting,” said Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the military’s Western Mindanao Command.

Manila is currently negotiating peace with the MILF and the fighting occurred after negotiations for a Muslim homeland 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 MILF, which is fighting for self-determination, said it would pursue a sub-state in the mineral-rich, but restive region in the southern Philippines. The MILF has asked Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks, to intervene in the deadlock.

Marvic Leonen, chief government peace negotiator, said the government proposed so called “3-for-1” formula which offers wider autonomy to the MILF.

The proposal follows a comprehensive approach or three components for one solution to the Bangsamoro problem – first, roadmap for development and socio-economic rehabilitation in the region through a creation of the Joint Coordinating Committee on Development.

And secondly, peace accord through the creation of a Bangsamoro Commission which shall re-craft an Organic Act for genuine autonomy and supervise the implementation of the peace pact; and lastly, to acknowledge the historical injustice of conflict and reconciliation wherein the government is willing to “officially retell the real history of Mindanao.”

The MILF flatly rejected the government offer and warned that war could erupt in Mindanao if peace talks fail. (Mindanao Examiner)

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