Two Bombings Hit Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 17, 2008) – At least 3 people were wounded in two separate bombings Sunday in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Two bombs went off 20 minutes apart in two budget hotels in Iligan City and officials have said that at least three people were hurt in the attacks.

“Three persons are wounded in the bombings and we have deployed soldiers to help policemen secure the area,” Army Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido, commander of a military task force, told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from Lanao province.

He said the first bomb exploded at around 5.30 p.m. at the Traveler’s Inn where three people were wounded and another exploded later at the Caprice Lodge. No group claimed responsibility for the twin bombings in Iligan, one of several areas being claimed by Muslim rebels as part of the ancestral domain.

Government troops also disarmed a homemade bomb planted near a school in North Cotabato, where fresh fighting between security and Muslim rebel forces erupted on Friday.

Authorities are also in high alert in North Cotabato after civilians on Friday discovered a homemade bomb in Mlang town, a day after policemen arrested a would-be-attacker and a self-confessed member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front at the town's market after an explosive he was carrying went off prematurely.

On Thursday, soldiers also defused a powerful bomb at a bus depot in North Cotabato's Kidapawan City. The province had been attacked in the past by Muslim rebels and members of the Indonesian terror group called Jemaah Islamiya and the local militant groups Abu Sayyaf and the Al-Khobar.

Troops on Wednesday regained control of 15 villages in North Cotabato province after a weeklong battle with MILF forces that left more than two dozen rebels and soldiers dead and wounded and over 160,000 people fleeing their homes.

Some 800 rebels occupied the villages after clashing with government militias over a land dispute and the fighting eventually spread to other areas. (Mindanao Examiner)

Ambush Kills 7 Soldiers, Militias In Southern Philippines

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 17, 2008) – Unidentified gunmen ambushed a military convoy on Sunday and killing 7 people, including four soldiers in the southern Philippine province of Lanao del Sur, officials said.

Officials said at least eight more soldiers and three government militias were wounded in the attack at around 8 a.m. in the town of Malundo. The attack ambush sparked a firefight between the attacks and soldiers, said Army Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido, commander of a military task force.

“Four of our soldiers and three militias were killed and eleven others wounded in the ambush. We still do not know who was behind the attack,” he told the Mindanao Examiner, adding, armed rebels are active in the area.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front and New People’s Army are known to operate in the area.

The motive of the attack was unknown, but the general said the soldiers were just distributing salaries of members of the paramilitary Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Units.

Last week, fierce fighting between MILF rebels and security forces broke out in North Cotabato province leaving dozens of people dead and wounded from both sides and more than 160,000 villagers displaced by clashes. (Mindanao Examiner)

Police, Troops Mount Operation Vs Highway Bandits Who Killed 5 In Mindanao

PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 29, 2008) – Philippine security forces mounted a massive search for gunmen who robbed a commuter van and killed five of its passengers in Lanao del Sur province in Mindanao, officials said.

Officials said the gunmen flagged down the van late Monday and held up its passengers on a highway near Calanugas town and then killed five of them later.

“We have launched a manhunt against those responsible in the killings. The military is assisting the police in the operation,” Army Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido, the commander of a military task force in Mindanao, told the Mindanao Examiner.

“Five people were killed in the heist,” he said, adding, more policemen and soldiers have been deployed along the Narciso Ramos highway to protect civilians from further robbery and attacks.

The 180-km long highway connects Lanao del Sur to the province of Maguindanao and is a vital route for traders in Mindanao. It was also the scene of bloody battles between government troops and Muslim rebels in the past.

The bodies of the five men had been recovered on the highway near the town of Malabang. The van was heading to Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur when it was waylaid.

Atendido said no groups or individual claimed responsibility for the killings. “Bandits could be behind this attack,” he said.

Highway robbers and criminal gangs have in the past attacked commuter buses and vans in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte provinces.

Early this month, ten gunmen also opened fire on a Zamboanga City-bound commuter bus in the town of Kauswagan in Lanao del Norte, killing its driver and wounding several passengers. (Mindanao Examiner)

Security Forces Hunt Down Assassin Of Mindanao Politician

PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 5, 2008) – Police and military mounted a manhunt against a man who killed the deputy mayor of the southern Philippine town of Pantar.

The gunman shot Abdul Rashid Unos while tending to his convenience store in Lanao del Norte’s Pantar town late Thursday afternoon.

“We have sent troops to ensure the peace and order in the town is not affected by the killing. We are helping the police maintain peace in the area,’ Army Brigadier General Hilario Atendido, commander of the military’s Task Force Lanao, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Senior Superintendent Lino Bagol, the provincial police chief, said they are still investigating the killing. “We are still investigating the killing, but security forces are hunting down the man who killed the politician,” he said in a separate interview.

Bagol said the victim’s family wanted the National Bureau of Investigation to help in solving the case. “We still do not know who was behind or the motive of the killing and we will help the NBI in the investigation of this case,” he said.

He said the politician was shot twice in the body with a .45-caliber pistol and died on the way to hospital. The still unidentified gunman escaped after the shooting.

It was not immediately known whether the murder was connected to politics, feud or clan war, but vendetta killings are not uncommon in Lanao del Norte. Political feud and clan war are the two biggest problems after Muslim insurgency in the province, home to about a million Malay-Arabic Maranaos. (Mindanao Examiner)

Bandits Free Hostages In Southern Philippines

PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 17, 2008) – Filipino bandits raided Tuesday two remote villages and seized at least two dozen people, but freed them later in the day after troops pursued them in the southern province of Lanao del Norte, authorities said.

Authorities said at least 15 gunmen swooped down on the villages of San Roque and Kulasihan in the town of Kolambugan at around 6.30 a.m. and seized the victims.

The gunmen were members of the so-called Tonda Force, a group blamed by police and military to the series of cattle rustling and extortion in the province. Little was known about the group or whether it has links with the Abu Sayyaf or the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front which is also active in the area.

Other reports said the gunmen also seized several teachers and students at a government school in San Roque. Police and military gave conflicting number of hostages, but one intelligence report said at least 23 members of three families were taken and another report claimed up to a dozen teachers had been abducted.

All the hostages were released one after the others while some managed to escape from their captors who used them as shield against pursuing security forces, said Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido, commander of the anti-terror Joint Task Force Tabak.

“All the hostages are accounted for, but troops are still pursuing the bandits,” Atendido told the Mindanao Examiner.

Atendido said the raiders also took farm animals.

The Abu Sayyaf is also holding three people since June 8 in the southern island of Sulu and has threatened to behead them if their families fail to pay P15 million ransoms for the safe release of ABS-CBN television presenter Ces Drilon, her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and Mindanao State University Professor Octavio Dinampo.

Another cameraman Angelo Valderama was freed June 12 after negotiators reportedly paid P5 million ransom. (Mindanao Examiner)

Bagong Army Deputy Commander, Umani Ng Papuri

PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 03 Dec) - Pinuri ng mga sundalo at opisyal sa Western Mindanao ang pagkakatalaga sa isang beteranong Army commander bilang deputy commander ng First Infantry Division sa Zamboanga del Sur.

Pormal ng umupo si Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido bilang deputy commander ni Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, ang pinuno ng First Infantry Division sa bayan ng Pulacan.

Dating naka-destino si Atendido sa Southern Command bago ito nanilbihan bilang assistant sa Armed Forces chief of staff sa Camp Aguinaldo sa Maynila at mula noon ay kung saan-saan na rin nadestino at muling nabalik sa Mindanao.

"Masuwerte kami dahil si Gen. Atendido ang nahirang na ADC (assistant deputy commander) ng (First Infantry) Division. Kilala namin ang taong iyan at bukod sa mabait ay talagang tapat sa tungkulin at masipag," ani ng isang sundalong nagpakilalang si Sgt. Roy Almario sa panayam ng Mindanao Examiner.

Maging si Ferrer ay puri-puri rin kay Atendido at katunayan ay balak rin nitong gawin spokesman ng Army sa Western Mindanao sa concurrent position.

Katulad ni Atendido ay mataas rin ang respeto ng mga tropa kay Ferrer na dating commander ng militar sa Basilan. (Mindanao Examiner)