5 Civilians Wounded In Military Offensives In Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 4, 2008) – Four civilians were wounded in a series of military bombardment in the southern Philippines, where troops are battling Moro rebels after the peace talks collapsed in August.

Another victim said he escaped from a military assault, but was wounded after he was shot by a soldier in Maguindanao, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.

Mindanao Tulong Bakwet, a Filipino relief organization, said four of those wounded were hit by shrapnel fired by soldiers from howitzer cannons since Friday.

Fighting between troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels the past months have displaced more than half a million people in the Muslim autonomous region and surrounding provinces in central Mindanao.

Fairuds Ebus, MTB executive director, said all the victims were Muslims. She said Abdulrahman Gandawali, 40, a war refugee, was hit by shrapnel Oct. 31 near a market in the village of Libutan in Mamasapano town.

On Nov. 01, troops also fired cannons towards MILF positions, but a farmer, Muslim Lumban, 80, was hit by shrapnel while fixing rice bags in the village of Kalipapa in Datu Piang town.

A 55-year old Saguira Ibrahim was also wounded while crossing a highway Nov. 2 in the village of Sakbu in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town. And Morsid Guino, 25, was hit by shrapnel Nov. 3 outside a refugee shelter in nearby Dapiawan village.

Relief workers were also forced to stop their operations in Dapiawan village on Monday after cannon hit a water source just 20 meters from the refugee shelter.

“We have to stop the issuance of food tickets because the refugees were so afraid,” said Aldan Agom, head of the MTB relief team.

The MTB said another refugee, Esmael Adam, was shot by soldiers, but survived to tell his tale about how he escaped from certain death. Adam, who was reported missing since Oct. 21, was rescued near a swamp a week later by villagers in Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

Adam said army soldiers, who were searching for MILF leader Ameril Kato, opened fire on his house in Dapiawan village.

Ebus said seven children were also hurt when a bomb exploded Sept. 26 near the Datu Gumbay Elementary School, which served as a temporary refugee shelter in the town.

Seven people, including five children were also killed Sept. 8 after a military plane fired on a civilian boat in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao province.

The military denied all allegations of human rights violations and blamed leftist and militant organizations for what it called black propaganda. “We need to verify all these accounts and other allegations of human rights violations, but as far as the military is concerned, the duty of the soldiers is to protect the lives and properties of civilians,” said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

Several Filipino human rights groups have blamed both government soldiers and MILF rebels in the escalation of hostilities and the mounting crisis in Mindanao.

Moro rebels were also being blamed for deadly attacks against civilian targets in Mindanao provinces in August after the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, failed to sign a homeland deal with the government.

Because of the attacks, President Gloria Arroyo scrapped the Muslim ancestral domain deal with the rebels and disbanded the government team negotiating with the MILF. (Mindanao Examiner)

Children's Group Releases Images Of Air Strike Casualties In Southern Philippines

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 11, 2008) – The independent Kabiba Alliance for Children's Concerns in Mindanao has released Wednesday photos of civilian casualties during a military air strikes in the Maguindanao town of Datu Piang where security forces assaulted Moro rebels.

The air strikes on Monday killed seven civilians, including children, according to local officials and President Gloria Arroyo has ordered an investigation into the incident.

The Philippine military blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for the fighting, saying, rebels attacked a chopper in the village of Tee, an allegation denied by the group.

7 Sibilyan Patay Sa Air Strikes Ng Militar Sa Mindanao!

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Ramadan Offensive: Philippine Military Planes Blast Small Boat, Kills 7 Civilians In Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 8, 2008) – Seven people were killed Monday, including five children, after government planes blasted a small civilian boat in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines, where fighting erupted between Moro rebels and military forces, officials said.

The Philippine military insisted those killed in the air strikes were rebels, but Mosib Tan, the municipal administrator of Datu Piang, said the victims were all innocent civilians.

“The hit the wooden boat and five children and their father were killed. Their mother’s body is still missing. Another victim who survived the air strike is now in the hospital – they are all innocent civilians,” Tan told the Mindanao Examiner.

Tan said villagers reported the planes bombed the boat at the Pawas River in the village of Te.

He identified those who were killed as Daya Manunggal Mandi and his children Aida, 17; Faiza, 1; Bai Lyn, 10; King, 8; and Dayang, 6 and their mother Vilma, whose body has not been found. He said Jamaludil, 17, was wounded in the air strike.

The air strike coincided with the Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month.

There were no immediate statement from provincial or regional government officials, but Tan condemned the military attack, saying, it has displaced more than 700 families from the village. “Our refugee shelters are packed. How can we feed all these poor people who fled their homes,” he said.

Security officials said the fighting broke out after Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels fired on the chopper near the village.

“The MILF rebels attacked our chopper and this triggered the fighting,” Army Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division, said.

He did not say whether anyone was wounded in the attack on the helicopter or if the aircraft sustained any damage. “We are still awaiting reports about it, but the attack sparked fresh fighting between rebels and our troops,” he said.

The helicopter, Ando said, was transporting troops when it was fired upon by rebels.

Security forces have been pursuing two MILF commanders, Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar, who were blamed for the series of deadly attacks on civilian villages in Mindanao.

Peace talks between Manila and the MILF were stalled because of the attacks that left dozens of people dead and forced more than 200,000 to flee their homes. The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, said it would not surrender Kato and Macapaar despite the government repeated demands.

The rebels threatened to launch a jihad should the government abandons the seven-year old peace talks.

President Gloria Arroyo has already scrapped the Muslim territorial deal that peace negotiators initially signed in July and disbanded the government team talking peace with the MILF because of the rebel attacks.

Arroyo insisted the rebels to lay down their arms before peace talks could resume, but the MILF flatly rejected this, saying, it should settle first the issue on the ancestral domain deal.

The rebels said it would not return to the negotiating table unless Manila honors it commitment to the accord that would grant about four million Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 villages across the troubled, but mineral-rich region on Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

Are US Troops Involved In RP Combat Missions?

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 07, 2008) – US soldiers aiding Filipino troops in fighting the Abu Sayyaf maybe involved in the operation that killed seven Muslim civilians and a government soldier in the southern Philippines, reports said Thursday.

Filipino troops trained by US forces were blamed for the killings of 8 people during a military operation early Monday in the town of Maimbung in Sulu province. Among the dead were two children and two teenagers, including a pregnant woman and an off-duty army soldier.

The Philippine military insisted the operation targeted the Abu Sayyaf and two soldiers and three militants were also killed in subsequent fighting that erupted in the village of Ipil.

Those killed were identified as Marisa Payian, 4; Wedme Lahim, 9; Alnalyn Lahim, 15; Sulayman Hakob, 17; Kirah Lahim, 45; Eldisim Lahim, 43; Narcia Abon, 24; all civilians and Pfc. Ibnul Wahid, of the Army's 6th Infantry Division.

Wahid's wife, Rawina, said she saw four US soldiers on a boat used by the raiders. "May nakita akong apat na Kano sa naval boat pagsakay ko na. Pagdating ko doon, piniringan kaagad ang mata ko. Sabi ko sa kanila, bakit nyo piniringan ang mata ko?, sabi nila 'para pagdating namin dito sa itaas wala kang makita."

"(I saw four Americans on the naval boat. When I climbed aboard, the soldiers blindfolded me. I asked them, 'why did you blindfold me?' They said, 'so that you won't see anything when we climb up.)," Rawina Wahid, wife of the slain soldier, told the ABS-CBN television in an interview.

Wahid said she boarded a Philippine Navy boat that took her husband's remains to a military base in Jolo town.

ABS-CBN reported that other villagers also noticed the presence of US soldiers on the boat. It quoted reports by the human rights groups Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society and the Suara Bangsamoro that the presence of the US forces in the area raised concerns about its involvement in local military operations, which violates the Philippine Constitution.

"Maraming tao diyan sa tabi ng naval boat at doon nakita nila yung mga sundalo na sumakay sa naval boat. Tapos 'yung mga American forces din nasa itaas."

"(They were many people near the naval boat and they saw the soldiers boarding it. The American forces were also aboard.)," ABS-CBN quoted Temugen Tulawie, of the CBCS, as saying.

"Sinasabi na with the presence of the US soldiers sa Sulu, magiging professional na daw yung AFP at mawawala 'yung human rights violation. Mukhang iba ang nangyayari, tino-tolerate pala."

"(They said that with the presence of US soldier in Sulu, the Armed Forces of the Philippines will be professionalized and there will lessen human rights violations. It seems the other way around, they were tolerating it.)," Tulawie said.

Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael, commander of an anti-terror task force in Sulu province, denied the reports and said US soldiers were not involved in the operation. "No US soldiers were involved in the operation and they were not even near the town when the fighting broke out," Rafael told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from his headquarters in Sulu.

Rafael said the military is still investigating the killings of the civilians, although he insisted the operation targeted the Abu Sayyaf group which is holding a kidnapped trader Rosalie Lao. "We are conducting our own investigation and we assure that there will be no cover-up in the probe," he said.

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan has condemned the killings of the innocent civilians and vowed to file criminal charges against the soldiers. He said many of those killed were shot in the head.

"Innocent civilians were killed. The children were shot in the head. We condemned the killings and those soldiers involved in the murder of innocent people must be charged in court and pay for their crimes," Tan said.

Philippine Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro is expected to fly to Sulu later this week to meet with Tan and other provincial officials about the killings.

Philippine flags around Sulu were flown at half-mast since Tuesday as Muslims mourn the deaths of innocent civilians. Villagers said some of those killed were shot at sea while trying to escape the fighting on boat. The soldiers who raided the village were members of the Army's Light Reaction Company, trained by US forces, and Navy's Special Warfare Group.

On Thursday, the SALINLAHI Alliance for Children's Concerns, an umbrella organization of child rights and welfare groups, strongly condemned the killings and urged for an independent probe of the incident.

"The usual casualties in this campaign are innocent civilians, particularly women and children. The incident again proved that the anti-terrorism campaign as well as the counter-insurgency program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines directed against the handful Abu Sayyaf and other armed groups is absorbed more by the civilian population rather than their real targets," Alphonse Rivera, the group's spokesman, said.

"Every incident involving military personnel as perpetrators is dismissed by the military top-brass as casualties of "legitimate encounters" to justify their acts and escape culpability. The next thing we will hear is that the military will insist that these children are also Abu Sayyaf members as if that will justify the killing," Rivera said.

Reps. Yusop Jikiri, of Sulu province and Mujiv Hataman, of Basilan have separately called for a congressional investigation into the killings in Maimbung town.

Jikiri, a former rebel leader of the Moro National Liberation Front, said the off-duty soldier killed along with seven civilians was shot in front of his wife.

"Wahid was reportedly hogtied first before he was shot in front of her. The wife, in fact, showed the military uniform of her husband, but the soldiers merely ignored the plea of Mrs. Wahid. Later, Mrs. Wahid was taken by the soldiers to the rubber boat allegedly driven by an American soldier," Jikiri said in a privilege speech in Congress on Wednesday.

Hataman also filed a resolution on Thursday seeking for an urgent investigation of the killings, which he described as "despicable, loathsome and ruthless."

"There is no valid reason, especially for the soldiers who are supposed to be the protector of the people, to kill innocent civilians, particularly children," he said.

The Commission on Human Rights has sent a team in Sulu province and is currently investigating the killings. (Mindanao Examiner)

RP Flags Fly At Half-Mast In Sulu To Mourn Killings Of Civilians

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 05, 2008) – Philippine flags in the southern province of Sulu were flown at half-mast on Tuesday to mourn the death of innocent civilians killed during a military operation against the Abu Sayyaf group tied to Jemaah Islamiya.

Provincial government officials, led by Gov. Sakur Tan, condemned the killings and said they will file criminal charges against those involved in the raid. The Provincial Legislative Council also passed a resolution condemning the killings.

"Innocent civilians were killed. The children were shot in the head. We condemned the killings and those soldiers involved in the murder of innocent people must be charged in court and pay for their crimes," Tan said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

The Philippine military on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the killing of 8 people in fierce clashes between security forces and Abu Sayyaf militants in Sulu province.

Seven of those killed in the town of Maimbung were civilians -- three adults, two children and two teenagers -- and an off duty army soldier.

“The Philippine flags were flown at half-mast in Sulu to mourn the death of the civilians,” Tan said.

Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael, commander of an anti-terror task force in Sulu province, said two soldiers and three militants, including an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Abu Muktadil, were killed in the fighting.

"It was a legitimate encounter. As far as we are concerned, troops clashed with the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya. We have recovered the bodies of Muktadil," he said, adding, they were also investigating whether the slain civilians were killed in the cross-fire or not.

Security officials said troops were tracking down a kidnapped trader Rosalie Lao in Maimbung town at dawn Monday when they clashed with alleged Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants in the village of Ipil where the eight bodies had been found later in the day.

It was not immediately known whether the 45-year old trader is being held in Maimbung town. Lao, who buys and sells Malaysian goods, was kidnapped Jan. 28 outside her home in Jolo town.

But a village leader, Rahsi Agas, has accused troops of killing the civilians. "They were just seaweed farmers and not members of the Abu Sayyaf," he told reporters in Sulu.

He said some of those killed were shot at sea while trying to escape the fighting on boat. The soldiers who raided the village were members of the Army's Light Reaction Company, trained by US forces, and Navy's Special Warfare Group.

Those killed were identified as Marisa Payian, 4; Wedme Lahim, 9; Alnalyn Lahim, 15; Sulayman Hakob, 17; Kirah Lahim, 45; Eldisim Lahim, 43; Narcia Abon, 24; all civilians and Pfc. Ibnul Wahid, of the Army's 6th Infantry Division. (With a report from Nickee Butlangan)

7 Civilians Among Dead In Sulu Clash

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 05, 2008) – The Philippine military on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the killing of 8 people in fierce clashes between security forces and Abu Sayyaf militants in Sulu province.

Seven of those killed in the town of Maimbung were civilians -- three adults, two children and two teenagers -- and an army soldier who was on a break.

Security officials said troops, tracking down a kidnapped trader Rosalie Lao, clashed at dawn Monday with Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants in the village of Ipil where the eight bodies had been found later in the day.

Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael, commander of an anti-terror task force in Sulu province, said two soldiers and three militants, including an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Abu Muktadil, were killed in the fighting.

“It was a legitimate encounter. As far as we are concerned, troops clashed with the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya. We have recovered the bodies of Muktadil, but soldiers also found eight more bodies in the area and we are trying to find out whether they were caught in the cross-fire or slain by terrorists,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

But a village leader Rahsi Agas accused troops of killing the civilians. “They were just seaweed farmers and not members of the Abu Sayyaf,” he said in a separate interview.

He said some of those killed were shot at sea while escaping the fighting on boat.

Among those killed were Marisa Payian, 4; Wedme Lahim, 9; Alnalyn Lahim, 15; Sulayman Hakob, 17; Kirah Lahim, 45; Eldisim Lahim, 43; Narcia Abon, 24; all civilians and Pfc. Ibnul Wahid, of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

Provincial government officials, led by Gov. Sakur Tan, has condemned the killings and urged the military to investigate and file charges against those involved in the attack on the civilians. “We not only condemn the killings of innocent civilians, but criminal charges should be filed against the perpetrators of this heinous crime,” he said.

Army Maj. Eugene Batara, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said they were investigating reports the killings were triggered by a family feud.

“There was fighting between two warring families in the area and the encounter and exchange of fires could have triggered the volatile situation between the families.”

“The encounter and the killing of civilians may have been two different incidents taking place simultaneously,” he said.

Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, flew to Sulu province on Tuesday to investigate the incident, Batara said.It was not immediately known whether the 45-year old trader is being held in Maimbung town. Lao, who buys and sells Malaysian goods, was kidnapped Jan. 28 outside her home in Jolo town.

The fighting erupted barely a week before US and Philippine troops are to begin joint humanitarian and medical missions in Sulu, about 950 kilometers south of Manila, as part of the Balikatan, which means "shoulder-to-shoulder", the codename for the annual joint anti-terror training.

Filipino authorities previously said that as many as 40 Indonesian militants are hiding in Sulu and being protected by the Abu Sayyaf and among them are Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who masterminded the 2002 Bali attacks that killed 202 people. (With a report from Nickee Butlangan)