ZAMBOANGA CITY, 11 October 2007 — War between two clans erupted yesterday in the southern Philippines, forcing hundreds of villagers to flee their homes, an official of a Muslim separatist group said.
The fighting broke out in Kitango village in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town of Maguindanao province, 850 km south of Manila, after former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels clashed with pro-government militia and police forces.
The larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, has ordered its forces to stay away from the hostilities, its spokesman said.
Eid Kabalu admitted that some MILF members, who have relatives from both warring groups, were dragged into the fighting. “We have ordered MILF members to stay out of trouble. Our concern now is how to help Muslim villagers displaced by the fighting,” he told Arab News by phone from Maguindanao.
He said there were no immediate reports of casualties, but the hostilities have affected the livelihood of villagers and were threatening their safety.
“Sporadic clashes are going on in the area and we are appealing to the two warring groups to cease fighting so villagers can return to their homes,” Kabalu said, adding, that the skirmishes were probably triggered by a land feud.
The MNLF signed a peace deal with Manila in September 1996 while the MILF is still fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the southern region.
Clan wars, known locally as “rido,” are common in communities in North Cotabato province, adjacent to Maguindanao.
In that clash, village chieftain Daitug Guima was killed along with six of his followers and two bystanders.
One was killed from the side of former Maguindanao provincial governor Norodin Matalam.
Police said Matalam’s group was heading to a village in North Cotabato to visit his farm while Guima and his companions were on their way to a gathering when they caught each other at a bridge.
Studies found there had been more than 1,200 clan feuds in the south since the 1930s, killing nearly 5,000 people and displacing tens of thousands.
A number of feuds, some running for decades, have been settled through the efforts of police in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and by the MILF.
