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Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Clashes erupt anew in Midsayap: 6 dead
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- Six persons were killed in fresh encounters that started Monday evening and lasted until Tuesday morning between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine Army in Midsayap, North Cotabato.
Reports reaching Sun.Star Davao said two Army soldiers and four MILF rebels were killed when some 200 rebels attacked Army detachments in two remote barangays in Midsayap.
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Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando, 6th Infantry Division spokesman, said the rebels fired rocket-propelled grenades at Army detachments, forcing government troops to retaliate.
He said more than 200 villagers scampered for safety as fighting raged overnight into Tuesday.
Army Colonel Diosdado Carreon said soldiers used artillery to push the guerrillas toward the nearby Liguasan marshland.
But MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said it was the Army that started the fighting.
He said the soldiers encroached on rebel-held areas resulting in the clashes.
Kabalu said the soldiers arrived in the area Monday evening with no prior notice and "pushed the MILF against the wall," thus it was forced to fight back.
Von Al Haq, the MILF chief representative in a joint ceasefire committee, also blamed the military for starting the clashes.
Al Haq said soldiers, who had provided security for a US military team on a medical mission in the area, entered a rebel camp in Lumupog near Midsayap, triggering the clash.
He said the military positions were nowhere near Lumupog where the fighting broke out, disputing the Army's claim that the guerrillas attacked its outposts. It wasn't immediately clear where the military positions were.
He said he filed a protest with the government representative in the ceasefire committee, and both sides were discussing how to separate the combatants.
The firefight, however, ended around 6 a.m. Tuesday. Hundreds of residents in the area had been forced to flee their homes again as a result of the latest encounter.
Close to 20 people have already died from sporadic fighting in Midsayap that started last January 25.
Both the MILF and the government have already agreed to a ceasefire and even created a task force led by the International Monitoring Team to enforce it.
Just last week, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza visited the town for the creation of another task force that would address the conflict in the area. (With reports from AP)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (March 7, 2007 issue)
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