ZAMBOANGA CITY, 6 July 2006 — Pro-government militiamen executed at least three Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) men captured during clashes in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, a rebel official said yesterday.
“Three of our members were captured and executed, probably tortured first and then killed by musketry by militias,” MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told Arab News by phone.
He said the three went missing when the militiamen under the control of Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan attacked Camp Omar, the MILF’s base in Shariff Aguak town.
“The fighting is going and there is no sign of it ever stopping today or tomorrow. The situation now is chaotic and there is fighting in several fronts,” he said.
Kabalu also accused the governor’s militia of torching houses of known supporters of the rebel group in Shariff Aguak. “These clashes have already displaced more than 2,000 families,” Kabalu said.
The camp, which straddles in the towns of Shariff Aguak, Datu Piang, Kabuntalan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in Maguindanao and the towns of Midsayap and Aleosan in North Cotabato province, is home to tens of thousands of rebels and their supporters.
The attack was reportedly to avenge the June 23 bomb attack on a convoy carrying the politician.
Ampatuan, a former rebel leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), escaped unhurt, but the blast killed six people, including his nephew, and wounded 14 others.
Police and military officials blamed the MILF of masterminding the attack and ordered the arrest of two senior rebel leaders Jamil Ombra, commander of the 105th Base Command in Camp Omar, and his deputy Sajid Pakiladato. The MILF has denied the accusations and refused to surrender the duo.
Kabalu said a total of eight MILF fighters have been killed in the fighting. He claimed that Ampatuan’s militiamen suffered more casualties. “At first, the military kept its hands off because of a cease-fire agreement. But in the end they violated it,” he said.
He said the situation was under control as of yesterday afternoon and described the fighting as an isolated case.
Military officials said fighting has abated yesterday, paving the way for truce monitors to conduct an investigation into the violation of the truce.
“This is a good development. We have to find out what really happened and institute measures so this will not be repeated,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Maj. Gen. Jose Angel Honrado told Radio DZXL in Manila. He said fighting subsided after the intervention of Malaysian-led cease-fire observers and a joint government-rebel committee.
Col. Felipe Tabas Jr., the regional military commander, said the two sides briefly exchanged fire early yesterday, but there were no reports of casualties.
“There is a move now to have a cease-fire,” Tabas said.
Tabas denied the military was involved, saying troops were only keeping a busy highway open since the fighting erupted.
Chief rebel negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, who has been engaged in the talks with the Philippine government on ending a decades-long Muslim separatist rebellion, on Tuesday warned that “the level of trust and confidence among peace negotiators was being eroded.”
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo instructed the military to work closely with government relief agencies and the local governments to address the plight of evacuees and ensure their safe return to their homes.
Government spokesmen also said the fighting was an isolated case and have not affected the current peace talks.
“The government is determined to pursue peace and development while taking all effective means to stop terrorism and bringing to justice those who have engaged in bombings and depredations,” said Arroyo’s spokesman Ignacio Bunye. (With input from Agencies)
