Muslim guerrillas helped Philippine troops on Monday find a hide-out where they killed five members of a criminal gang on a US terror group list, officials said. The troops, guided partly by information from the rebels, raided a "Pentagon Gang" lair in a vast marshland in southern Maguindanao province, thwarting an alleged kidnapping-for-ransom plot, said army Col. Gerry Jalandoni.
The military had informed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front - a large Muslim separatist group that has a cease-fire with the government - about the raid beforehand to prevent accidental clashes with MILF guerrillas camped near the hide-out, Jalandoni said. The MILF provided information that helped the troops find the gang, he said. The soldiers also arrested gang members involved in a recent attack on police, he said.
There were no casualties Monday among the soldiers, who recovered an M-16 rifle and two anti-tank rocket launchers from the hide-out near Midpandacan village, about 930 kilometres (575 miles) southeast of Manila, Jalandoni said. Troops were chasing about two dozen kidnappers who fled after the raid and two-hour gunbattle, he said.
The Pentagon Gang is notorious for kidnapping foreign workers and Christian missionaries. Some military officials have claimed the gang was the MILF's moneymaking arm. The MILF denies the allegation. |