COTABATO CITY, 31 July — Five civilians were wounded in a mortar attack by Moro separatists in the southern Philippines, breaking a cease-fire accord signed last month, the military said here yesterday.

Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fired eight mortar rounds at the town of Datu Piang in Maguindanao province early Sunday night, marine Col. Francisco Gudani said.

Government troops in the area retaliated with artillery fire, Gudani said.

Five civilians were hurt by MILF mortars that fell near the town plaza, he said.

The army’s Southern Command described the attack as the “first major violation” by the MILF of a cease-fire pact signed by both parties in Libya last month.

The violence also came amid a new round of peace negotiations being held in Malaysia aimed at ending the MILF’s 23-year fight for the establishment of an independent Islamic state.

A big lie

The MILF vehemently denied the charge.

“It is a big lie!” separatist spokesman Eid Kabalu said.

Kabalu confirmed that several rounds of 60 mm mortar bombs were, indeed, exploded in downtown Datu Piang but the MILF had nothing to do with it.

The mortar shells were fired from a still undetermined location, causing injuries to two small children sons of a certain Ustadz Mustapha Blo, he said.

Kabalu explained that the fighting was between two groups led by a Commander Duma and a Commander Genuine Kamaong and Datuwata Adziz.

Kabalu said that Duma is  a former officer of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) of Nur Misuari, which signed a peace pact with the government in 1996.

Kamaong is a leader of the government’s militia group CAFGU and Adziz Kamaong’s brother-in-law and a newly elected member of the Provincial Board of Maguindanao.

Kamaong and Adziz are closely related to the Datu Piang Mayor Saudi Ampatuan, the son of Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan, the MILF spokesman added.

Military partiality

Kabalu said government troops belonging to army’s 37th and 57th battalions aggravated the conflict by taking sides with the group of Kamaong and Adziz.

He said the military offensive against Duma’s group has displaced several families from the villages of Penditen, Pandi, Damabalas and nearby areas, all in Datu Piang town.

Kabalu said the six men cornered by soldiers during the chase in Barangay Pandi were not MILF fighters but members of Duma’s group.

Kabalu lamented that government troops shelled the defense perimeter of Camp Bushra Samiorang even though the MILF had nothing to do with the figthing.

He said military units who came close to Camp Bushra’s line of defense have yet to pull out.