| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| At least 18 dead as Philippine army fights Muslim rebels |
| 2007-03-06 |
| Army troops and Muslim rebels clashed in the remote southern Philippines despite a 2003 cease-fire, leaving at least 17 rebels and one soldier dead, military officials said Tuesday. The fighting erupted Monday night in Midsayap, a rural town of about 100,000 people 890 kilometers (550 miles) south of Manila, with the army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front accusing each other of firing first. The battle raged overnight into Tuesday, leaving 17 MILF rebels and an army soldier dead, Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, the 6th Infantry Division spokesman. Three other soldiers were wounded. A local reporter at the site saw the bodies being gathered by the roadside in Sambolawan village, next to rebel-controlled Lumupog, where the fighting took place. About 300 rebels simultaneously attacked two military detachments with rocket-propelled grenades and 81 mm mortars, said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, the 6th Infantry Division spokesman. Army Col. Diosdado Carreon said soldiers used artillery to push the guerrillas toward the nearby Liguasan marshland. But Von al Haq, the MILF chief representative on a joint cease-fire committee, blamed the military for starting the clashes. He said only one MILF member was killed and another wounded, and the bodies by the road were probably those of army troops. Al Haq said the soldiers, who had provided security for a U.S. military team on a medical mission in the area, entered a rebel camp at Lumupog near Midsayap, triggering the clash. Al Haq said the military positions were nowhere near Lumupog, disputing the army's claim that the guerrillas attacked their outposts. It wasn't immediately clear where the military positions were. "I already filed a protest before my counterpart when the soldiers stayed on after securing the U.S. troops on Saturday, asking them to reposition the troops," Al Haq told The Associated Press. "But nothing was done." He said both sides were discussing how to separate the combatants. About 7,500 frightened residents from at least 10 villages fled their homes, many trapped along an unpaved highway that the military closed to traffic early Tuesday, according to members of Bantay Cease-fire, a civilian group monitoring the truce. Some residents started fleeing their homes late last week, frightened by the arrival of tanks and soldiers moving into several villages that were abandoned by the MILF, said Rexall Kaalim, the group's coordinator. Ando denied there was a buildup of troops. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 is it muzzie season again, already? |
| Posted by: bk 2007-03-06 10:23 |