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Southeast Asia
Philippine Army Says May Have Killed 140 Rebels
2003-02-13
The Philippine military said on Thursday it may have killed nearly 140 Muslim guerrillas in three days of heavy fighting that shattered a shaky cease-fire on the southern island of Mindanao. Four soldiers and five civilians were killed as troops pursued fleeing rebel bands in three provinces after pounding their stronghold on the outskirts of Pikit town with bombs, rockets and cannon fire, military reports said.
Soldiers rescued 10 villagers used as human shields by rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as they tried to flee the offensive, field commanders said.
"The enemy is on the run," Colonel Essel Soriano told reporters. "They have gone into splinter groups." He said the fighting had spread from Pikit to villages in the neighboring provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat, about 560 miles southeast of the capital Manila. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the target of the offensive was not the MILF but the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang -- composed of former guerrillas turned bandits -- which she said had sought sanctuary in a MILF camp. "They are birds of the same feather," an army officer told Reuters. "When they kidnap people, the MILF says they are not with them. But they all band together when they fight us."
Same thugs, same fate.
The MILF, with an estimated 12,000 fighters on Mindanao, is the biggest of several groups fighting for an Islamic state in the mainly Roman Catholic country. Intelligence agencies have accused it of links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
The three-day confrontation between thousands of troops and 2,000 MILF guerrillas and allied groups has forced 32,000 people to flee their homes. "Our count of enemy dead is 138," army division commander Major Generoso Senga said by telephone. "This includes 50 bodies seen in one area, but we are still verifying the report." Tallies of rebel casualties were based on body count, reports from villagers and intercepted radio messages, the military said.
Hard to verify until you pile all the bodies in one place.
Fifteen soldiers have been wounded. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the rebels suffered 34 dead. The scene of the fighting is about 185 miles east of Zamboanga City, where hundreds of U.S. troops are due to begin the second phase of exercises on February 24 aimed at improving the counter-terrorism skills of Philippine soldiers. Early on Thursday, about 40 guerrillas took control of part of a major highway linking the main southern cities of Davao and Cotabato. Soldiers drove them away after an exchange of fire. Fighting escalated after Arroyo lifted her order for a cease-fire on Wednesday.
"The rebels tried to extricate themselves from the area, but one of our attacking forces blocked them. It was a swift attack and there was fairly heavy fighting," Senga said. The bloodiest clash on Thursday occurred in Lambayong town where 41 guerrillas were killed in two hours of combat, he said.
Sounds like the Philippine troops are doing pretty good. Congratulations, keep it up.
Posted by:Steve

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