Philippine military bombs MILF base in Mindanao

General Raymundo Ferrer. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 24, 2011) – Philippine military planes bombed Monday a jungle base of the country’s largest Muslim rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front in an effort to flush out guerrillas linked to the spate of kidnappings and killings in the restive southern region of Mindanao. The attacks targeted machine gun nests and fortified bunkers of the MILF in the town of Payao in Zamboanga Sibugay province. “We’ve targeted machine gun nests and bunkers in the village of Labatan in Payao town,” Army Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, a regional military spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner. He said the operation was aimed at flushing out MILF leader Wanning Abdusalam and several others who are wanted by authorities for kidnappings for ransom and killings in Mindanao. He said several MILF leaders, among them Pulot Jakaria and Ogis Jakaria, have arrest warrants, some issued by a local court in 2007, for kidnappings and murders. The MILF said the shelling violated a cease-fire agreement. “The military violated the truce and MILF forces in the area were ordered to defend themselves from attacks,” Von Al-Haq, a rebel spokesman, said in a separate interview. General Raymundo Ferrer, commander of military forces in Western Mindanao, said the operations is aimed at Abdusalam’;s group. “The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Phillippine National Police shall continue its joint law enforcement operations against the group of Wanning Abdusalam. He should be brought to justice for all past kidnappings and extortions by his group. The clamor of the people from Zamboanga Sibugay is to end Abdusalam’s notoriety,” he said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner. The military also blamed the rebels for the spate of attacks in Zamboanga Sibugay last week that left 8 soldiers and policemen dead. And 19 soldiers were also slain last week by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters in fierce battle in Basilan province after troops were sent on a test mission to a rebel stronghold in the town of Al-Barka to arrest a rebel leader Dan Asnawi who is accused as behind the series of kidnappings for ransom. The MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, also accused the military of breaking a fragile truce when it ordered troops inside a guerrilla base to arrest Asnawi on false charges. The series of attacks sparked widespread calls from politicians and former President Joseph Estrada for an all-out war against the MILF. The killings of the soldiers and Manila’s refusal to suspend peace talks with the MILF caused widespread demoralization among the ranks in the military, although security officials denied this. “We feel sad about losing some of our soldiers, but definitely this does not affect how we perform our respective duties. In fact, this will provide focus, motivation and determination in our operations. Our soldiers know that those who were responsible in the Basilan incident will be caught and punished eventually and we can exact justice without necessarily sacrificing the peace process,” Ferrer said. British Ambassador to Manila Stephen Lillie on Monday expressed serious concern about the recent spate of ambushes in Mindanao, but said he is supporting President Benigno Aquino's rejection of an "all-out war policy" against the MILF following last week's violent attacks in Basilan and Zamboanga Sibugay. “I am seriously concerned by the reports of ambushes by MILF members in different parts of Mindanao over the past week. But meeting violence with violence will not solve the conflict in the southern Philippines.” “On the contrary, it is only likely to lead to a downward spiral of killing, with untold misery and suffering for innocent civilians. The last time violence broke out on a wide scale, some 600,000 people were forced to flee their homes. The people of the southern Philippines deserve better than that,” Lillie said. It was not immediately known how the military offensive would affect the peace talks. The MILF is fighting for self-determination in Mindanao and warned that war could break out in the southern Philippines if the peace talks collapse. (Mindanao Examiner)