BASILAN ISLAND, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Aug) – Two suspected Moro rebels involved in the killing of 14 Marines in the southern Philippine island of Basilan surrendered to authorities, officials said Thursday.
The two men also handed over an automatic rifle they took from one of the slain soldier in the mountain town of Al-Barka, said Major Eugene Batara, a regional army spokesman.
The soldiers were killed July 10 after straying inside an MILF territory while searching for a kidnapped Italian Catholic priest Giancarlo Bossi, held by rebels.
The priest, seized last month in Zamboanga Sibugay province, was freed in neighboring Lanao del Norte province in Mindanao island on July 19 and said he was never taken to Basilan.
“Two suspects have surrendered to the military and we are investigating their role in the killing of our soldiers,” he told the Mindanao Examiner without further elaborating.
Police have filed murder charges against 130 MILF rebels and Abu Sayyaf militants implicated in the killing.
The MILF denied beheading the soldiers and pointed to four Abu Sayyaf militants as behind the grisly murder. (Mindanao Examiner)
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