ZAMBOANGA CITY, 23 November 2006 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has accused government soldiers of attacking rebel forces in the southern Philippines. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said troops fired at rebels in the village of Kuloy in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao province and sparking a brief gun battle on Monday.
“Government soldiers attacked our forces and triggered a brief exchange of gunfire. Luckily, no one was killed on our side. We still don’t know if there were military casualties. The military attack is a violation of the cease-fire agreement,” he told Arab News.
Kabalu said soldiers from the army’s 64th Infantry Battalion were responsible for the attack.
He said the MILF protested the attack and that the Malaysian-led international cease-fire observers are investigating the incident. Military commanders in the area did not give any statement and ignored phone calls from reporters.
Sporadic fighting between soldiers and rebels had been reported in the past with both sides accusing each other of violating the truce.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF, the country’s largest separatist rebel group fighting for an independent Muslim state in the southern region, in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of fighting in Mindanao.
