Kidnappers free Filipino hostage in Basilan province

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Rebels burn school in Basilan Island in South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 28, 2009) – Moro rebels allegedly burned down a government school in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, a known stronghold of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces, the military said Saturday.

Army spokeswoman Lt. Steffani Cacho said the rebels, led by Omar Ladjala, burned the Erely School in the town of Sumisip on Friday. The motive of the attack was unknown, but Cacho said the villagers were supporting military efforts in the town.

“It could be in retaliation to the continued support we are getting from the locals in Basilan, especially in Sumisip town,” she said told the Mindanao Examiner.

No one was reported hurt or killed in the arson, she said.

Security forces had repeatedly clashed with MILF rebels in Basilan, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City. Authorities have linked the MILF to terrorism and kidnappings for ransom in the restive region of Mindanao, but the rebel group also denied all the allegations.

On Friday, deadly clashes in Maguindanao province on the main island of Mindanao killed 20 rebels and seven soldiers, according to the military.

But the rebel group said only two of its fighters were slain in the fighting it blamed to the army after troops raided a known MILF stronghold near Mamasapano town in the Muslim autonomous region.

The MILF has been fighting the past decades for the establishment of a separate Muslim state in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

Catholic priest ambushed in Southern Philippines

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 18, 2008) – A Catholic priest was wounded in an ambush Saturday while on his way to say mass on a remote town in the southern Philippine island of Basilan, police said.

Police said Claretian priest Felimon Libot was wounded in the attack and so were two of his security escorts, both government militias in the village of Upper Cabengbeng in Sumisip town.

"The priest is wounded and also his two security escorts" Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, the island's police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the priest was on board a jeep on his way to the village of Tumahubong in Sumisip town when gunmen ambushed them at around 12.30 p.m. "There is an ongoing pursuit operation in the area," he said.

But Major Eugene Batara, a regional military spokesman, said four militiamen escorting the priest were wounded in the ambush. One marine soldier was also hurt in the attack, he said.

"Four government militias are wounded," Batara said.

No group claimed responsibility for the ambush, but police said the area is a known lair of Abu Sayyaf militants and the larger rebel group called Moro Islamic Liberation Front, both had been implicated in previous attacks in the predominantly Muslim province, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City.

The Abu Sayyaf is still holding two aid workers, Esperancita Hupida and Millet Mendoza, kidnapped last month on the island, about 900 kms south of Manila.

In March 2000, Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped 58 people, mostly teachers and students, including a Catholic priest Roel Gallardo in Sumisip town. The priest was tortured and killed along with four other teachers.

The Abu Sayyaf, which means "Bearer of the Sword," was originally fighting for a separate Islamic state similar to Afghanistan, but resorted to banditry and kidnapping after its Libyan firebrand founder, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, was killed in 1998 in a clash with policemen in Basilan province.

The Abu Sayyaf also killed two Catholic priests in the past years - Rey Roda of the congregation of Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who was shot inside his parish in Tawi-Tawi early in January this year and Bishop Benjamin de Jesus, assassinated in Sulu province in 1997. (Mindanao Examiner)

Ambushers Kill 4 In Basilan Island

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 26, 2008) – Four people were killed and four others wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire Tuesday on a group of illegal loggers in Basilan island in the southern Philippines, police said.

Police said the attack occurred in the hinterlands of Sumisip town, but it was unclear who were behind the attack. “Four people are dead alright and we are investigating this attack,” Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, the island’s police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the attack targeted a group of illegal tree cutters and it was unknown whether the assailants were rebels or not. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the town is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels.

Illegal logging is still rampant in the island’s hinterlands, despite efforts by authorities to put a stop on the activities. Basilan is largely covered by coconut trees and other species of hardwood.

The island is also a paradise for wild boars and macaque, but animal hunters had also been attacked in the past by rebels. (With reports from Rex Montebon)

Sayyaf Militant Killed In Ambush In Basilan Island

BASILAN ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 16 Jul) – Gunmen ambushed a suspected Abu Sayyaf militant on Monday in the southern Filipino island of Basilan, where the al-Qaeda-linked terror group is believed to be holding a kidnapped Italian Catholic clergy, the military said.

At least 7 gunmen were involved in the killing of Dayasir Wakil, who was included in the military’s order of battle, in the hinterland village of Tumahubong near Sumisip town.

The attack on Wakil was believed to have been carried out by a rival faction, the military said.

Troops are tracking down a group of Abu Sayyaf militants and rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said to be holding Fr Giancarlo Bossi.

Last week, fourteen soldiers were killed, ten of them beheaded, and nine more wounded after MILF rebels attacked them in Basilan’s Al-Barka town.

The soldiers were searching for the 57-year old Bossi, kidnapped on June 10 in Zamboanga Sibugay province. The killing is now threatening the government’s seven-year old peace talks with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group.

The MILF said the day-long clashes, which left 5 of its fighters dead, broke out after troops entered a rebel territory.

The killing was so gruesome that President Gloria Arroyo ordered troops to hunt down those responsible in the beheading. (Mindanao Examiner)