LAMBAYONG, Sultan Kudarat, 11 September — The latest round of fighting that killed 12 more people since Sunday in the neighboring southern provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao were rooted in a grudge, a separatist spokesman said yesterday.
Eid Kabalu, spokesman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) told RMN-DXMY that the clashes occurred in Lambayong town of Sultan Kudarat and in the adjacent towns of Sultan Sa Barongis and Salipada K. Pendatun, all of Maguindanao.
Fighting was between the elements of army’s Special Forces and 47th Infantry Battalion versus MILF fighters under National Guard Division.
The conflict started at about 5 a.m. Sunday when an army detachment in the village of Gumamela in Barangay Pimbalayan, Lambayong, were harassed by the separatist elements led by a Commander Jorge.
Kabalu said four government militiamen, called CAFGUs, were killed in the attack. He said army troops pursued the attackers through the barangays of Angkayamat and Langgapanan in Sultan Sa Barongis and Midpandakan in Salipada K. Pendatun, Maguindanao and a gunbattle took place.
He claimed that six of the soldiers were killed and three on the MILF side.
The military has not mentioned anything about the reported clashes.
Kabalu said, however, that the attack was not in anyway sanctioned by the MILF’s higher command.
He said the attack was "rooted from a long-standing grudge between Jorge and one of the victims, a CAFGU member named Manny Musil."
Kabalu said soldiers later seized three civilians, including a village official, from Midpandakan in Salipada Pendatun, and executed them by pouring gasoline into their bodies and setting them afire. He identified them as Masla Mamaluba, Pala Kotim and Ulama Zacaria.
"The army unit pulled back after the incident only to return this afternoon with additional elements and armaments. Right now they are occupying some villages," the spokesman said.
