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Tuesday, August 19, 2008
26 dead as rebels flee Lanao villages
KAUSWAGAN, Lanao del Norte -- Government troops on Monday retook several Lanao del Norte towns where Moro rebels burned houses and shot or hacked to death at least 26 people earlier in the day.
The retreating Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels took dozens of civilians in Kolambugan town as a human shield, said Brigadier General Antonio Supnet, head of an army brigade that drove away the rebels.
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Officials said 23 civilians were killed in Kauswagan and in neighboring Kolambugan town, including villagers who were taken hostage, a group of farmers, and two bus passengers who were hit by rebel gunfire. At least three soldiers were killed, army commanders said.
According to Supnet, more than 20 houses were burned in Kauswagan alone.
William Sechico, 14, from Kolambugan, said he and his five siblings and parents were asleep when their house came under fire.
"My father died," he said. "We hid in the bushes at the back of our house until 1 p.m. today."
Sicheco was hit, a bullet still lodged on his left arm, when soldiers found him. They brought him to Iligan City for treatment.
Hundreds of residents displaced by the fighting have been streaming into evacuation centers in the town of Linamon and Iligan city.
Many of them came by small boats, bringing their possessions. Some were seen carrying TV sets or helping old people off the boats.
Trucks and other vehicles brought the evacuees to the parade grounds of City High School in downtown Iligan where the local government had set up tents and first aid stations.
Offensive
Military chief General Alexander Yano said government troops launched an offensive in response to Monday morning's attack by about 300 guerrillas on the coastal towns in Lanao del Norte province.
TV footage showed mayhem in one smoldering village as residents ran for cover, jumping over the fences of their roadside houses.
Burned-out vehicles littered the street. A photographer said up to 100 people escaped in dozens of boats to Iligan because the main highway was blocked.
Michael Enat, manager of Cosmopolitan funeral homes in Iligan, said an army truck brought the bodies of nine civilians from Kauswagan who had been shot and hacked to death.
Iligan City meanwhile imposed a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew Monday night.
The escalation of fighting on Mindanao island came amid uncertainty over a fragile peace process after the Supreme Court (SC) blocked a preliminary agreement with Moro rebels calling for an expanded autonomous region.
A military offensive earlier this month that dislodged the rebels from several villages displaced about 80,000 residents in a nearby province.
At least 7,000 villagers fled in the latest fighting, police said.
Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu confirmed the attack, but said it was carried out by a key commander, Abdullah Macapaar, also known as Bravo, without the knowledge of the group's leadership.
Kabalu said the rebels were frustrated over the slow progress in talks but added their actions were "illegal and they were ordered by (rebel) leaders to vacate the areas they attacked."
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo meantime told the rebels in a televised statement to withdraw immediately or they would be crushed.
She convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the rise in rebel attacks.
Treacherous
"This is not just a violation of the peace agreement, but also a challenge to the overall aspirations of the people for peace and progress in the whole island of Mindanao," Arroyo said, calling the attacks "sneaky and treacherous."
Retired General Rodolfo Garcia, head of the government's negotiating team with the rebels, called the attack on the towns a violation of a 2003 ceasefire.
On Sunday, rebel forces attacked a four-vehicle army convoy near Mulondo township in Lanao del Sur province, killing four soldiers and four militiamen, the military said.
Kabalu confirmed the attack but said he was not yet sure what triggered it.
Local officials have strongly opposed the accord on an expanded autonomous region, part of efforts by the government and the rebels to end a decades-old insurgency in Mindanao.
The agreement, which was supposed to be signed this month but was blocked by the SC, calls for more than 700 new villages to be added to an existing autonomous region, subject to the approval of residents in a plebiscite next year. (AP/With Froilan Gallardo of Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex)
Related Stories:
Arroyo condemns MILF attacks
Troops regain Kolambugan, Kauswagan township
Trips suspended amid Lanao fighting
Moro rebels withdraw from Lanao villages; 24 dead
Moro rebels attack Mindanao villages
7 killed, 12 wounded in ambush
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (August 19, 2008 issue)
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