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Saturday, January 15, 2005
Military-rebels fighting erupts anew
By Jun Feliciano
ANOTHER heavy fighting between government forces and suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) erupted Thursday in Maguindanao, Central Mindanao, the Southern Command (Southcom) reported.
Southcom Spokesman Col. Domingo Tutaan confirmed the latest fighting in the said place, but quickly added that they are verifying if the armed group belongs to the MILF in the area.
Tutaan revealed the exact place of the skirmishes as somewhere in Kabuntalan, Maguindanao.
Last Sunday's gun-battle between army troops and the MILF rebels that lasted two days occurred in the marshland of Mamasapano also in Maguindanao.
Camp Aguinaldo, the army headquarters, however, accounted some 50 rebels killed during that initial intense long firefight.
Tutaan disclosed Thursday's encounter resulted to one killed on the government troops while the enemy suffered heavy casualties in their 30-minute clash.
"We can not exactly determine the exact number of their casualties but they were heavy as they carried away their fallen comrades", Tutaan said.
The attackers were led by a certain Comdr. Uzi who ambushed the combined military-police patrolling forces in the area where their presence was earlier tipped off to the authorities by alarming residents thereat, according to Tutaan.
Meanwhile, Tutaan said the out-break of hostilities last Sunday in Central Mindanao is now being referred to the joint goverment-MILF Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities to determine if indeed a violation of the ceasefire accord was committed by either side.
(January 14, 2005 issue)
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