ZAMBOANGA CITY, 9 February 2005 — Hundreds of troops headed yesterday to the southern Philippine island of Jolo, as fierce fighting between security and rebel forces left at least 48 people dead, officials said.
Among the dead were 30 Abu Sayyaf militants and members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) loyal to jailed rebel leader Nur Misuari, said Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza, commander of military forces in the south.
“At least 30 enemies were killed in the fighting,” Braganza told the Arab News.
Other security officials said 14 marines and four army soldiers were also killed in the fighting since Monday. Dozens more were wounded in the clashes in the towns of Panamao, Parang, Patikul and Talipao.
The fightings broke out after hundreds of Abu Sayyaf and MNLF gunmen attacked military detachments in the towns one after the other. Rebel forces also destroyed several government infrastructure projects built by soldiers in Parang town.
Braganza said government aircrafts bombed several targets yesterday in Panamao town where the rebels are holed out.
“We bombed several enemy targets in Panamao town and the fighting is still going on. We will continue offensive operations, they’ve asked for it and we will give it to them. There will be no negotiations, they should surrender immediately,” he said.
Officials in Jolo said the rebel attacks were reportedly in retaliation to the killing of Abu Sayyaf militants in clashes with government forces in Jolo since last month. It was unknown why the MNLF was dragged into the skirmishes, but local sources said many of those killed in the clashes with soldiers were former MNLF leaders, among them were Hajji Pajiwan and Salip Faizal.
Jolo military commander Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala said they have secured vital government installations on the island, about 950 km south of Manila. “We are in total control here, we have secured government installations and the civilians against terrorism. Security forces are pursuing the lawless elements,” he said.
Dema-ala said they have recovered five bodies of Abu Sayyaf members yesterday and that soldiers have have secured the towns of Parang, Patikul and Talipao, but sporadic clashes were continuing in Panamao.
Military and police forces in Jolo island were in hightened alert following intelligence reports that the rebels were also planning to attack other towns to divert the attention of the authorities. Thousands of Muslim villagers have fled their homes for fear they would be trapped in the violence.
Misuari had become governor of the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao following a 1996 peace deal which he signed as the head of the MNLF with the Filipino government, ending a 24-year guerrilla war and establishing Muslim self-rule.
But Misuari, who had been dropped as both leader of the MNLF, and as candidate for the election by his party, claims the vote was a violation of the deal. The authorities said he sparked the rebellion in an attempt to prevent the election going ahead.
More than 50 people were killed in November 2001 when MNLF and Abu Sayyaf forces also loyal to Misuari, attacked a major military base on Jolo island. About 200 gunmen also attacked military detachments and the main airport in Jolo town, raining the area with mortar and automatic gunfire. More than 90 soldiers, rebels and civilians were wounded in the attacks.
Rebel forces also briefly seized more than 100 people in Zamboanga City and held them hostage until Misuari fled Jolo to Malaysia where he was arrested and deported back. Misuari, now jailed in a police headquarters in Sta. Rosa town in Laguna province outside Manila, is facing rebellion charges.
Many Abu Sayyaf militants in Jolo, who were former MNLF fighters, are still loyal to Misuari and on many occasions fought alongside with renegade MNLF members in sporadic clashes with soldiers.
The United States listed the Abu Sayyaf as a foreign terrorist organization and Washington and Manila implicated five of the group’s known leaders to the killing of Californian Guillermo Sobero in 2001 and Kansas missionary Martin Burnham in 2002.
They were kidnapped along with Burnham’s wife Gracia and 17 Filipino holidaymakers in June 2001 from the posh Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province in central Philippines. Sobero was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf, while Burnham was killed along with a Filipino hostage Deborah Yap, during a US-led military rescue operation.
Gracia Burnham was also shot and wounded, but rescued by soldiers as well as the other hostages.
Washington offered as much as five million dollars for the arrest of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and several other leaders and Manila also doubled its reward from five million to ten million pesos for their capture dead or alive.
