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Monday, February 14, 2005
Government troops pound Moro gunmen positions
JOLO -- Government troops, backed by helicopter gunships, bombarded Muslim rebels with artillery and rocket fire Sunday in the mountainous heartland of southern Jolo island in Sulu after weeklong clashes that left more than 60 people dead.
Three more soldiers were killed and 16 others injured by grenade and mortar attacks in fighting overnight between government troops and loyalists of former Moro group leader Nur Misuari and their Abu Sayyaf supporters near Panamao and Looc towns.
The soldiers' bodies were flown out of Jolo by an air force plane, said Brigadier General Agustin Demaala.
It was not immediately clear if the rebels suffered casualties, but Demaala said villagers told soldiers that a Muslim religious leader was wounded and his brother was killed. There were also bloodstains on a trail where the gunmen passed.
Southern Command (SouthCom) Chief Alberto Braganza said the incident will be the enemy's final and last stand, noting that the Moro gunmen had retreated and were now concentrated in the uphill village of Bitan-ag in Panamao town.
Demaala, who heads troops involved in the assaults, said soldiers were attacking Bitan-ag, where gunmen led by locally prominent religious leader Habier Malik fled after they attacked an Army company detachment last week.
Demaala said the military hadn't identified the religious leader killed in the assault, but the villagers said Malik survived.
Government forces captured a rebel camp in Bitan-ag last Thursday, and two soldiers, including Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Villanueva, commander of the Army's 53rd Infantry Battalion, died in the fighting.
"Just today, I have ordered an air strike at the general area of Bitan-ag. This is a vast area," said Braganza.
As of Sunday afternoon, the military said about 100 to 200 rebels were still holding their line.
"We will continue to pound their position, this (operation) will continue until they are neutralized. The heavy fighting continues and we also expect casualties on the military side," Braganza added.
The Moro gunmen, reportedly backed by Abu Sayyaf extremist guerrillas, also attacked troops in other towns, provoking a major military offensive.
Added Braganza: "They are retaliating with mortars, the fighting is no longer confrontational. They are running out of ammunition but they are still able to inflict harm on our troops. This (fighting) will be over soon."
According to Demaala, the military has the upper hand because they are on the offensive.
Malik, who reportedly leads about 100 gunmen, would either be killed "or die a natural death because we'll starve him to death. We won't allow him to get away," he added.
At least 27 soldiers have been killed, including the head of the Army's 53rd Infantry Battalion, and more than 50 others wounded in the clashes since Monday, officials said. The military said troops have killed 37 gunmen, all followers of Misuari.
Officials declined to immediately give details of the latest round of clashes, but there was evidence of intense fighting on Sunday.
From Jolo town's airport, residents could hear Army artillery blasts, and saw MG520 attack helicopters take off and land frequently.
At the town's pier, about 300 heavily armed troops boarded a navy transport ship to give soldiers on the front lines a break.
An Abu Sayyaf leader, Abu Solaiman, told radio station dzBB Saturday that Abu Sayyaf fighters and Misuari loyalists had joined forces after troops recently killed a couple and their son in Jolo. He said the dead were related to both groups.
The military says the woman and her husband fired on troops, who fired back and killed both, while the child died in the crossfire.
Jolo Governor Benjamin Loong said 2,600 families have fled their homes because of the clashes.
Misuari formerly headed the Moro National Liberation Front, a large Muslim separatist group that accepted limited autonomy and signed a peace accord with the government in 1996.
But violence flared again years later and Misuari was imprisoned near Manila on charges of rebellion. Many of his armed followers still maintain strongholds in Jolo, and have been accused of supporting the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf. (JFF/AP)
(February 14, 2005 issue)
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