ZAMBOANGA CITY, 16 May 2008 — Fierce fighting erupted yesterday afternoon between Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels and government soldiers in Basilan island in the southern Philippines.
The MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, accused security forces of attacking rebels working on their farms in the village of Baguindan in Tipo-Tipo town.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, but the MILF described the fighting as fierce.
“Fighting is raging in Basilan and soldiers are attacking our positions in the province,” Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator, said.
He said the attack sparked the fighting in the town, a known stronghold of the MILF under rebel leader Hamza Sapanton.
Marine chief Gen. Mohammad Dolorfino said rebel forces attacked soldiers securing a 40-kilometer road project in Tipo-Tipo town and this triggered the fighting.
“It was the rebels who first attacked our security forces and troops only retaliated, but the fighting is not as serious as what the MILF claimed. There are exchanges of sniper fires between our troops and rebels and we have no reports of casualties,” Dolorfino said.
The fighting erupted after Malaysian truce observers pulled out last week in Basilan and Zamboanga City after peace talks stalled last year over MILF demands for a separate homeland.
The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for independence in Mindanao.
The rebels repeatedly warned that fighting could erupt if Malaysia pulls out its truce observers.
Last year, rebels in the area killed and wounded dozens of Marines in fierce clashes. The rebel forces ambushed the soldiers after they strayed into an MILF territory in Al-Barka town. Ten soldiers were beheaded in the fighting.
