MAGUINDANAO (Juan Magtanggol / 11 Aug) Two members of an elite police force trying to arrest an Indonesian terror suspect in the southern Philippines were killed in a clash with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) soldiers, a rebel spokesman said Friday.
The fighting occurred before dawn Thursday when more than 30 members of the police's Special Action Force raided a hideout of the Jemaah Islamiah in Balong village in North Cotabato's Pikit town, where Adulhir bin Hir alias Marwan, an alleged Indonesian terrorist, was hiding.
But the supposed hideout turned out to be the house of MILF rebels and firefight ensued killing the two police officers, said Eid Kabalu, an MILF spokesman. He said two more policemen were wounded in the clash.
"There are no terrorists hiding in the village. The village is a known MILF community. The MILF rebels only acted on self-defense when they clashed with what they thought were lawless elements in the dark," he said.
Army officials in the area said the police did not coordinate with them or the ad hoc joint action group of the military and the MILF.
"All we know was the police was trying to serve a warrant of arrest for two men identified only as Marwan and Omar. We don't know their backgrounds and it was a police operation," said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, the spokesman of the 6th Infantry Division.
Radio reports said the police lost two M16 automatic rifles and night vision goggles in the clash.
Soldiers and policemen tightened security in North Cotabato after two bomb attacks on Thursday afternoon wounded one person in Kidapawan City. Four others were also wounded in a grenade attack in Cotabato City blamed by the police on terrorists.
Aside from the Jemaah Islamiah, the Abu Sayyaf and the communist rebel group, New People's Army, are actively operating and have been tagged as behind numerous attacks against civilian and government targets in the restive southern Philippine region.
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