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Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Death toll rises to 17 in new fighting with Moro rebels (11:22 am)
COTABATO -- The death toll from renewed fighting between Moro rebels and the military in central Mindanao has risen to 17, a military spokesman said Wednesday.
The bodies of six slain separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas and four civilians were found late Tuesday near Matanog town in the main southern island of Mindanao, Major Julieto Ando said.
Seven soldiers were earlier reported slain in an ambush by the MILF on Tuesday.
The ambush came after extensive fighting last week which saw almost 200 people killed, most of them MILF rebels and allied Muslim armed groups.
The clashes resulted in the military's capture of a 200-hectare (500-acre) MILF enclave called the Buliok complex.
Ando said the military was beefing up its forces in the area amid reports that the rebels would attack an army camp in Camp Abubakar, a former MILF base that was captured by the military in 2000.
He also cautioned civilians from traveling on highways at night due to the increased threat.
Despite the renewed fighting, chief government peace negotiator Eduardo Ermita said that the government would pursue peace talks with the MILF but would be more aggressive in making sure that the rebels follow the conditions of a ceasefire signed in 2001.
In an interview with ABS-CBN television in Manila, Ermita said that the ambush was a sign that the MILF had shown "duplicity on their part," by asking the government to pull back their forces while stepping up their attacks.
He defended the military's assault on Buliok complex, saying that the MILF had violated the conditions of the ceasefire by sheltering outlaw groups involved in terrorism and kidnapping.
"You might say the military is becoming much more pro-active to let them know, enough is enough," he said.
"I think they know there is no sense in pursuing the armed struggle. They know they can never win against the government," he said.
The 12,500-member MILF has been fighting a 24-year war to set up an Islamic state in the southern third of the mainly Roman Catholic country. (AFP) |
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