Philippine rebels agree to to quit nine occupied villages
Ready for action: A Philippine Army sniper taking position behind a sandbag in Baliki village in Midsayap town yesterday as sporadic gunfire broke out when Muslim separatist rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) began their pullout from nearby occupied villages before the government deadline. Picture: AFP
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Firefights occur between military and 'recalcitrant' group of MILF
PHILIPPINE TROOPS clashed with Muslim separatist rebels yesterday in a southern province where additional security forces were dispatched to secure areas occupied by the guerrillas, officials said.
The firefight erupted when a group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels attacked an army outpost in Midsayap town in North Cotabato province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, said Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando, an army spokesman.
Ando said there were no immediate reports of casualties in the fighting, which occurred as additional soldiers and police officers were deployed in the province to ensure that MILF rebels leave nine villages in three towns they had illegally occupied.
Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres, armed forces spokesman in Manila, said sporadic firefights were reported between the military and a "recalcitrant group of MILF forces who appears to be disregarding the call of the MILF leadership to leave certain areas".
"Instead of leaving, they engaged our troops in a sporadic firefight," he said.
Soldiers also fired 10 mortar rounds against MILF positions in the boundary of Midsayap and Aleosan towns, but no casualties were reported, according to MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu.
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said the MILF leadership has ordered its forces on the ground to "reposition" after the Philippine government gave them 24 hours from Thursday to vacate areas they forcibly took over.
"We need to see this repositioning happen," Puno said. "We need to see the rebels leaving the areas. We will make sure that they vacate the areas."
More than 1,500 families were forced to leave their homes as the MILF rebels took over their communities.
Puno said that once the guerrillas leave, government security forces would take over to allow the displaced residents to return to their homes.
An international team of ceasefire monitors stepped in to prevent the hostilities from escalating yesterday, and was helping MILF and government representatives identify areas where rebel forces could be relocated.
"We are finding a way to do it," Kabalu said. "This will not be easy."
The massing of MILF rebels in North Cotabato came after the Supreme Court stopped the signing of an agreement that called for the expansion of an existing the autonomous Muslim region in the southern region of Mindanao, which includes North Cotabato.
The government and the MILF were supposed to sign the deal on ancestral domain Tuesday but Catholic politicians in Mindanao asked the Supreme Court to stop the signing and to nullify the agreement for allegedly violating the constitution.
North Cotabato provincial officials were among the politicians who have voiced strong opposition to the land deal. They have also led street protests in the province against the agreement. The signing of the ancestral domain deal is a key step in resuming formal peace talks which have been stalled since December.
Aside from expanding the existing six-province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by holding a plebiscite in more than 700 villages in 2009, the proposed agreement also would provide for the establishment of a new form of government for Muslims after a final peace deal is reached.
DPA
PHILIPPINE TROOPS clashed with Muslim separatist rebels yesterday in a southern province where additional security forces were dispatched to secure areas occupied by the guerrillas, officials said.
The firefight erupted when a group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels attacked an army outpost in Midsayap town in North Cotabato province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, said Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando, an army spokesman.
Ando said there were no immediate reports of casualties in the fighting, which occurred as additional soldiers and police officers were deployed in the province to ensure that MILF rebels leave nine villages in three towns they had illegally occupied.
Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres, armed forces spokesman in Manila, said sporadic firefights were reported between the military and a "recalcitrant group of MILF forces who appears to be disregarding the call of the MILF leadership to leave certain areas".
"Instead of leaving, they engaged our troops in a sporadic firefight," he said.
Soldiers also fired 10 mortar rounds against MILF positions in the boundary of Midsayap and Aleosan towns, but no casualties were reported, according to MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu.
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said the MILF leadership has ordered its forces on the ground to "reposition" after the Philippine government gave them 24 hours from Thursday to vacate areas they forcibly took over.
"We need to see this repositioning happen," Puno said. "We need to see the rebels leaving the areas. We will make sure that they vacate the areas."
More than 1,500 families were forced to leave their homes as the MILF rebels took over their communities.
Puno said that once the guerrillas leave, government security forces would take over to allow the displaced residents to return to their homes.
An international team of ceasefire monitors stepped in to prevent the hostilities from escalating yesterday, and was helping MILF and government representatives identify areas where rebel forces could be relocated.
"We are finding a way to do it," Kabalu said. "This will not be easy."
The massing of MILF rebels in North Cotabato came after the Supreme Court stopped the signing of an agreement that called for the expansion of an existing the autonomous Muslim region in the southern region of Mindanao, which includes North Cotabato.
The government and the MILF were supposed to sign the deal on ancestral domain Tuesday but Catholic politicians in Mindanao asked the Supreme Court to stop the signing and to nullify the agreement for allegedly violating the constitution.
North Cotabato provincial officials were among the politicians who have voiced strong opposition to the land deal. They have also led street protests in the province against the agreement. The signing of the ancestral domain deal is a key step in resuming formal peace talks which have been stalled since December.
Aside from expanding the existing six-province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by holding a plebiscite in more than 700 villages in 2009, the proposed agreement also would provide for the establishment of a new form of government for Muslims after a final peace deal is reached.
DPA
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