130 MILF Rebels, Sayyaf Militants Charged For Killing 14 Soldiers In South RP

Policemen stand guard on their base in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. Police forces, backed by soldiers, are preparing to arrest some 130 Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels and Abu Sayyaf militants tagged as behind the killing of 14 soldiers, ten of them beheaded in nearby Basilan island on July 10. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

BASILAN ISLAND, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 28 Jul) – Philippine authorities have identified at least 130 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf militants as behind the killing of 14 soldiers, ten of them beheaded, in Basilan island.

The warrants for their arrest have been released by the court and security forces are now preparing to run after them. More than a hundred rebels, also implicated in the July 10 attack in Al-Barka town, are yet to be identified.

The military said the Abu Sayyaf group was also involved in the attack.

It was unknown how authorities got the names of rebels allegedly involved in the attack. But other reports said ten witnesses, mostly followers of politicians in Basilan island, have provided authorities with names of rebels and information about them.

The MILF has previously denied beheading the soldiers and said other armed groups, some of them, followers of local politicians, were behind the gruesome murders.

Sattar Alih, head of the MILF cease-fire monitoring team in Basilan island, said rebel forces withdrew from the battle scene, leaving the bodies of soldiers behind, after military and rebels agreed to a cease-fire.

Intelligence sources in Basilan have also implicated unnamed politicians who allegedly supplied the Abu Sayyaf and with mortar rockets, weapons and munitions during the fighting.

Their private armies allegedly fought against the military forces side-by-side with the MILF and that two gunmen had died in the skirmishes.

The gunmen were believed behind the mutilation of the slain soldiers.

More than 2,000 soldiers were sent to Basilan to help police in arresting those charged in court.

“The police will take the lead role in arresting those involved in the beheading with the military as a strong support force,” said Philippine military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon.

Esperon on Friday called off a planned attack on MILF rebels who beheaded the soldiers to give way for a joint investigation.

The order came after President Gloria Arroyo met with top military and police commanders in Zamboanga City. Arroyo held a closed door meeting with military generals, headed by Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon and Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, chief of the Western Mindanao Command.

Arroyo gave investigators until Tuesday to finish their report. She also ordered security forces to run after Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to al-Qaeda terror network in Basilan and Jolo island.

It was the second time the military postponed the offensive since the MILF defied an ultimatum on Sunday for rebels to surrender. The postponement of offensives came days before the start of a three-day ASEAN summit in Manila on July 29. The MILF warned that any attacks on rebel forces in Basilan could spark sympathy attacks.

The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate homeland in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich region of Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

7 Killed In Jolo Island Violence

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 10 Apr) – At least 7 people were killed in sporadic clashes between armed supporters of politicians in Tongkil town in Jolo island, about 960 km south of Manila, local officials said Tuesday.

The town mayor Wahid Sahidulla said at least seven people, two from his side, had died from the violence after gunmen seized a village and strafed houses.
One policeman was also wounded, he said.

“The fighting is continuing and seven people have been killed so far and there is no sign that the violence would end soon. Gunmen are sowing terror and thousands of villagers have fled their homes for fear they would be held hostage or executed,” Sahidulla told the Mindanao Examiner newspaper in Zamboanga City.

He said the raiders, armed with small rockets and automatic weapons, allegedly torched a Protestant church and several houses and also bombed the municipal hall of Tongkil town at around 2 a.m. Monday.

The gunmen also seized a village called Sigumbal, trapping some 7,000 people.

The mayor said the attacks were connected to politics and blamed it to his opponents. “They wanted to take control of the elections and scare the people,” he said.

Sahidulla said he sought help of the military, but security officials told him to get in touch with the local police force. “The town’s police force is outnumbered and the situation is getting worse by the day. It is like a ghost town already in Tongkil,” he said.

Military officials earlier warned politicians against using violence in the May polls, saying, security forces are ready to confront them to ensure peace and honest elections.

Officials said soldiers would be used to ensure elections are not hampered by the presence of rebels and terrorists in areas where they are actively operating.

Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, head of the police in the Muslim autonomous region, said they have sent additional forces to pacify the warring groups.

“We have sent police forces in the area. This is more of a political trouble and we are addressing this problem,” Goltiao told the Mindanao Examiner by phone.

Dozens of people had been killed in poll-related violence across the country where Filipinos are to elect their senators and congressmen and local officials on May 14.

Police said about four dozen people had been killed in election-related violence since political campaign began this month.

Elections in the Philippines, particularly in the Muslim autonomous region, are traditionally bloody. Many politicians maintain private armed goons to harass their opponents and intimidate voters. (Mindanao Examiner)