8 wounded in Mindanao mortar explosion

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 7, 2009) – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Philippines largest Muslim rebel group, accused government troops of firing a mortar round that wounded at least 8 people in North Cotabato province in Mindanao.

Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said the mortar exploded Thursday afternoon near a government school in the village of Macasendeg in Pikit town where children were playing.

He said soldiers deployed in the town fired the mortar to break up fighting between two groups of warring families; one of them has links with the MILF and the other with the army.

“The soldiers sided with one group and that worsened the situation. Instead of initiating peace talks to stop the fighting, the military - as it always did in the past - preferred war over peace and the result - eight people were injured in the mortar fired by soldiers,” Kabalu told the Mindanao Examiner.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division said the police are already investigating the blast.

“There is a police investigation going on and we cannot say anything more,” said Colonel Jonathan Ponce, the army spokesman.

Manila has resumed peace talks with the MILF after a yearlong fighting killed more than 1,500 soldiers and rebels and displaced more than 600,000 civilians in Mindanao.

The MILF is fighting the past three decades for self-determination. Peace talks collapsed in August last year after the failed signing of the Muslim homeland deal which the Supreme Court ruled was unconstitutional. (Mindanao Examiner)

Moro rebels raid Mindanao village, take 3 hostages

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 16, 2009) – Suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels raided Monday a small village in the southern Philippines and abducted three people, the army said.

It said the rebels also took 15 cows in the village of Dado in North Cotabato’s Alamada town. An army spokesman identified the hostages as Rolijun Lindayao, Riyo Lindayao and Ritoy Elarkosa.

The fate of the hostages was unknown.

“There is an ongoing operation to recover the hostages,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division.

The raid occurred a day after a grenade attack killed a village official and wounded five others in nearby Pikit town. Ponce said authorities are still investigating whether the two attacks were connected or not.

The motives of the two attacks were unknown, but MILF rebels have been fighting for a long time pro-government militias and Christian settlers in North Cotabato over Muslim ancestral lands.

The rebels claimed Christian settlers have grabbed their lands and converted them into private farms, ranches and rice fields. The MILF is fighting for independence in Mindanao the past decades. (Mindanao Examiner)

Troops foil bomb attack in Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 4, 2009) – Army soldiers disarmed Wednesday an improvised explosive device planted near market in Pikit town in North Cotabato province in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Although no group clamed responsibility for the foiled bombing, the military quickly blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), saying, the rebel group was desperate to avenge the deaths of its fighters in recent clashes with troops in Mindanao.

The crude bomb was made from ammonium nitrate rigged to a battery and a cellular phone.

“This IED, recovered through intensified intelligence monitoring, is designed as retaliation by the MILF due to their recent debales in North Kabuntalan (town) wherein eight rebels were killed,” Army Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Ponce was referring to the fighting on Monday that left eight rebels dead which the MILF strongly denied. The MILF called the military report as propaganda.

The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group which is fighting for self-determination in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

Muslim child killed, 5 others wounded in Mindanao ambush

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 9, 2008) – Unidentified gunmen ambushed Sunday a group of Muslim children, killing one and wounding six more in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, of the 6th Infantry Division, said the attack occurred at around 6.30 a.m. in the village of Langayen in North Cotabato’s Pikit town. He said the victims were onboard a mini-van when gunmen opened fire on the vehicle as it passed the village.

“One child was killed in the ambush and at least six more were wounded. There is a pursuit operation going on,” Ando told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the vehicle, owned by Norodin Ungkay, a member of the Aleosan municipal council, was heading to the downtown Pikit from the village of Dunguan in Pikit town when ambushed.

No group claimed responsibility for the ambush, but Ando said police and military were looking into reports that Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels could be involved in the attack.

“There is an investigation about this, about the involvement of rogue MILF members,” Ando said.

But the MILF said it has nothing to do with the ambush and blamed clan war as the culprit. “We have reports saying the ambush was connected to a clan war or family feud between two Muslim groups,” said Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, who was monitoring the situation in the town, where rebels are actively operating.

The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting the past three decades for self-determination in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

US spy plane crashes in Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 23, 2008) – A US military spy plane crashed in North Cotabato province in the southern Philippines where Filipino troops are battling Muslim rebels, reports said.

The unmanned aerial vehicle crashed Oct. 18 on a neighborhood in the town of Pikit after hitting a row of coconut trees. The news of the crash was kept secret by Filipino and US authorities until a local online news site Minda News filed a report about the ill-fated UAV.

It said the UAV, whose wing span was about 8 feet, crashed at night near the house of Eusebio Camancho. Policemen quickly recovered the wreckage of the spy plane and returned the next morning to collect debris of the ill-fated UAV.

“There was no explosion, just a loud thud,” Minda News quoted Camancho as saying.

The UAV is believed one of many spy planes used by US forces deployed in the southern Philippines. US troops are helping Filipino military defeat terrorism.

Camancho said the UAV was made of silvery metal and grey materials, whose parts included rubber tubing and wirings. Its body, he said, measures about 12 inches only.

Police and military declined to comment about the crashed UAV. US military and embassy officials also did not give any statement about the unmanned air craft.

It was not the first time that a US military UAV had crashed in the southern Philippines.

In 2006, villagers in Sulu province held for ransom a crashed unmanned US drone used by the military in tracking down Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.

The remote-controlled spy plane crashed February 10 in the mountain enclave of Marang in Indanan town. Local television news showed footage of a villager holding the ill-fated UAV, whose wing span was about one meter long and has a slim body and a video camera mounted on its belly.The villagers demanded P100, 000 in exchange for the unmanned aircraft.

Another US unmanned spy plane also crashed in November 2007 during a practice flight in Mount Tumatangis in Sulu. It was unknown if the drone was found or not, but the crash was never reported to the press.In March 2002, a US spy drone called predator also crashed into the sea off Zamboanga City. The UAV went down for a still unknown reason and was also recovered.

The US military has a fleet of various unmanned spy planes, from a palm-size remote-controlled aircraft, to bigger and sophisticated high-altitude; long-range remotely piloted vehicles designed for long-endurance photographic reconnaissance and electronic surveillance missions, and as attack aircrafts.

The US military had used a Philippine Air Force base in Mactan Island in Cebu province in central Philippines as station of its fleet of Orion spy planes. (Mindanao Examiner)

MILF Rebels Attack Army Post, Topple Power Pylon In South RP

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 2, 2008) – Muslim rebels attacked military and government targets in North Cotabato province as sporadic fighting continue in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters attacked an army post and a power pylon late Tuesday in the hinterlands of Pikit town, scene of fierce clashes between rebel and military forces since last month.

“The rebels attacked military and government targets, but no one was injured or killed. The MILF has been attacking our troops and bombing pylons in Mindanao,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

But the MILF blamed the military for the hostilities, saying, troops attacked areas controlled by rebels. “It is the military, not us who should be blamed. Soldiers are firing on us,” Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, said.

He said hundreds of government soldiers have been deployed near MILF camps in the provinces, increasing tension in Mindanao.

Armed Forces chief Alexander Yano has told security forces to use considerable force against MILF attacks. Fighting between soldiers and rebels still continue despite a cease-fire accord. Military and rebel leaders have accused each other of violating the truce.

Peace talks were stalled last year after Manila rejected demands by rebels to grant them ancestral lands that would comprise a separate Muslim homeland in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich Mindanao Island.

President Gloria Arroyo in 2001 opened up peace talks with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim secessionist rebel group, in an effort to end more than four decades of hostilities in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

RP Troops Disarm Bomb Planted In Mindanao Market

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 06, 2007) – Philippine soldiers disarmed Saturday a homemade bomb planted at market in Pikit town in North Cotabato province in Mindanao.

The bomb was discovered after two improvised explosives were detonated late Friday at the busy business district of Kidapawan City also in North Cotabato that killed three two and wounded 32 others.

Market-goers discovered the bomb and informed soldiers and policemen about it.

Auhorities on Saturday ordered a heightened following the bombings. “We have taken steps to secure the safety of civilians and government installations,” Major Julieto Ando, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the blasts occurred in the busy business district of Kidapawan City in North Cotabato province at around 7 p.m.

Two improvised explosives, one of them attached to a parked mini-van, detonated one after the other along Quezon Boulevard, the army spokesman said.

Among the dead was a ten-year old girl, Annie Mae Lozada. Christian and Muslim religious leaders, he said, quickly condemned the attacks which coincided with the holy month of Ramadan.

No groups claimed responsibility for the twin attacks, but previous bombings in the area had been blamed by Filipino authorities to the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya and their local counterpart, the Abu Sayyaf.

Last month, two homemade bombs exploded inside two commuter buses in Marbel town and in Cotabato City.

Australia last month warned of terror attacks in the southern Philippines and banned its citizens from traveling to Mindanao.

Aside from Zulkifli bin Hir, authorities said two Jemaah Islamiya bomb-makers, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both tagged by Jakarta as behind the 2002 Bali bombings, are also hiding in the southern region and so are about three dozen other accomplices. (Mindanao Examiner)

Muslim Rebels Praised For Rescue Of German National, 3 Others In South RP

GRP-MILF AHJAG team lawyer Abdul Dataya turns-over kidnapped victims to Philippine Marines Maj.Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino at the International Monitoring Team Headquarters in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province. The four kidnapped victims - Thomas Wallraf, from Cologne, Germany and his wife, May Sharon and two others - Diego Daniel, their driver; and Consuelo San Juan, a family friend – have been handed by the Moro Islamic Liberations rebels to Malaysian truce observers and the Philippine military in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province on Friday, 01 June 2007. Also in the photos are Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion commander Lt.Col.Dickson Hermoso, Police Region 12 Director, Chief Supt.Felizardo Serapio Jr.and Head of Mission International Monitoring Team Maj.Gen.Dato Ismail Bin Abbas.

(Mindanao Examiner Photos/Mark Navales)

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 01 June) – Philippine Muslim rebels handed over Friday a rescued German national and three other Filipinos kidnapped by bandits in the southern province of North Cotabato, security officials said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating peace with Manila, rescued the four hours after they were seized while traveling in Pikit town on Thursday.

The four - Thomas Wallraf, from Cologne, Germany and his wife, May Sharon and two others - Diego Daniel, their driver; and Consuelo San Juan, a family friend – have been handed to Malaysian truce observers and the Philippine military in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province.

Marine Maj. Gen. Mohammad Dolorfino, chairman of the government Ad hoc Joint Action Group, said the four were on their to Manila. “The release of the four is the result of a good coordination between the MILF and the Philippine military,” he told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

“The MILF is able to react immediately and rebel forces sealed off the area where the abductors are holding the four victims and recovered them safely,” he said.

Gunmen were forced to release the four to the MILF in the village of Balongis in Pikit town after rebel forces surrounded their hideout and threatened to kill the kidnappers.

The release of the hostages previously reported as all Caucasians came hours after the rebel group, backed by security forces, mounted a massive rescue operation.

The four were heading to North Cotabato from Davao City onboard a van when gunmen flagged down their vehicle. The MILF has in the past helped the government rescue kidnapped foreigners and Filipinos in Mindanao.

The abductions coincided with the start of the ten-day joint amphibious war games between the Philippines and the United States. But security officials said it was not connected with the ongoing war games off the southern region. (Juley Reyes and Mark Navales)

Kidnappers Free Hostages To Muslim Rebels In South RP

NORTH COTABATO (Mindanao Examiner / 31 May) – Kidnappers have freed on Thursday four people they earlier seized in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Gunmen released the four to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in the village of Balongis in North Cotabato’s Pikit town, said Col. Pedro Soria, commander of the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade in the province.

The release of the hostages previously reported as Caucasians came hours after the rebel group, backed by security forces, mounted a massive rescue operation.

But it turned out that only one hostage is foreigner, Thomas Wallart, a German national. Other reports identified the German as Wallraf, from Cologne. The others are Filipinos – May Sharon, the German’s wife; and Diego Daniel, the van driver; and Consuelo San Juan, a friend of the German couple.

"The victims were released to the MILF and they will be turned over to us," Soria told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

The four were heading to North Cotabato from Davao City onboard a van when gunmen flagged down their vehicle.

Major General Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the four hostages were not harmed by the gunmen. “They are all alright,” he said.

Ferrer said the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s largest Muslim rebel group negotiating peace with Manila, offered to help track down the kidnappers.

The MILF has in the past helped the government rescue kidnapped foreigners and Filipinos in Mindanao.

A rebel spokesman, Eid Kabalu, said the four would be handed over to the Philippine authorities and the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team. “We are glad it’s over,” he said in a separate interview.

One of the hostage, May Sharon Wallart, said they were not harmed by the kidnappers, but shaken by the ordeal. "We are really thankful that they did not harm any of us. We are so tired and probably fly back to Manila to get some rest," she told reporters in Pikit town.

She said the gunmen, clad in military uniform, flagged down their vehicle at a checkpoint and seized them. "We did not think it was a kidnap because they were all wearing uniform like those of the soldiers. They took our belongings and tied our hands and took us away," she said.

The woman said she and her husband were in Pikit on a business trip. "We are into metal trading," she said.

Other reports said the German national is a treasure hunter.

The abductions coincided with the start of the ten-day joint amphibious war games between the Philippines and the United States.
Marine Major General Mohammad Dolorfino, chairman of the government Ad hoc Joint Action Group, said the abductors were bandits operating in North Cotabato.

“The MILF is able to react immediately and rebel forces sealed off the area where the abductors are holding the four victims and recovered them safely,” he said.

It was unknown whether the MILF arrested any of the gunmen. (With reports from Juley Reyes, Mark Navales and Juan Magtanggol)

Four Caucasians Kidnapped In Southern Philippines

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