COTABATO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 01 Jul) Tension remains high Saturday in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao province, scene of bloody fighting between Moro Islamic Liberation Front and local paramilitary forces, as the exodus of civilians continue, a rebel spokesman said.
Eid Kabalu said MILF fighters were bracing for new attacks by armed followers of Andal Ampatuan, the governnor of Maguindanao. "Tension is very high and MILF forces are bracing for possible attacks by militias working for Ampatuan," he told the Zamboanga Journal.
The politician escaped a roadside bomb attack last week in Shariff Aguak, but five people, one of them his relative, was killed and 14 others injured in what authorities claimed was the handiwork of the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group which is currently negotiating peace with Manila.
The fighting has been raging for days, Kabalu said, adding, government soldiers have fired at least 20 rounds of howitzer canons near a major rebel base late Friday afternoon. "It's good that no one was killed in the shelling and it was also the first time that government soldiers fired at us and it is a violation of the cease-fire agreement," he said.
Kabalu said the MILF on Saturday filed a protest with the joint cease-fire committees and that the Malaysian-led international truce observers were investigating the attack.
The clashes began Wednesday when police tried to arrest two MILF commanders who were tagged as behind the bombing in Shariff Aguak. The military said rebels fired rockets on an army post, manned by soldiers and militias, in the village of Koloy, sparking a firefight that spread to four other villages.
But the rebel group denied it was behind the bombing and claimed militias simultaneously attacked MILF strongholds with mortars in retaliation to the killing of Ampatuan's relative.
Kabalu said dozens of militias were killed and wounded in the fighting since Wednesday and that one rebel was also slain and ten others injured. He said that rebels overran a military command used by militias to attack MILF forces in Shariff Aguak.
The military said only six militias were reported wounded. "Military reports said only six militias were wounded and we don't have reports about what the MILF is claiming," said Brig. Gen. Jose Angel Honrado, the spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Hundreds of civilians fled their homes in four villages -- Tapikan, Koloy, Nabundas and Pulang Lupa -- in Shariff Aguak for fear of being caught in the cross-fire.
Kabalu warned the fighting would escalate in other areas and could affect the peace talks if the militias continue to attack MILF forces. "We are only defending ourselves, but we are ready to fight," he said.
The governor, a staunch ally of President Gloria Arroyo, could not be reached for comment, but Nori Unas, the provincial administrator, said one of those killed in the bombing was the nephew of Ampatuan and that the bomb attack targeted the governor who was unhurt in the blast. The bomb, he said, was left near a parked vehicle on the market where the politician's convoy had passed. "The governor was obviously the target of the attack," Unas said.
In February, security and rebel forces clashed for weeks in Shariff Aguak and left more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.
Eid Kabalu said MILF fighters were bracing for new attacks by armed followers of Andal Ampatuan, the governnor of Maguindanao. "Tension is very high and MILF forces are bracing for possible attacks by militias working for Ampatuan," he told the Zamboanga Journal.
The politician escaped a roadside bomb attack last week in Shariff Aguak, but five people, one of them his relative, was killed and 14 others injured in what authorities claimed was the handiwork of the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group which is currently negotiating peace with Manila.
The fighting has been raging for days, Kabalu said, adding, government soldiers have fired at least 20 rounds of howitzer canons near a major rebel base late Friday afternoon. "It's good that no one was killed in the shelling and it was also the first time that government soldiers fired at us and it is a violation of the cease-fire agreement," he said.
Kabalu said the MILF on Saturday filed a protest with the joint cease-fire committees and that the Malaysian-led international truce observers were investigating the attack.
The clashes began Wednesday when police tried to arrest two MILF commanders who were tagged as behind the bombing in Shariff Aguak. The military said rebels fired rockets on an army post, manned by soldiers and militias, in the village of Koloy, sparking a firefight that spread to four other villages.
But the rebel group denied it was behind the bombing and claimed militias simultaneously attacked MILF strongholds with mortars in retaliation to the killing of Ampatuan's relative.
Kabalu said dozens of militias were killed and wounded in the fighting since Wednesday and that one rebel was also slain and ten others injured. He said that rebels overran a military command used by militias to attack MILF forces in Shariff Aguak.
The military said only six militias were reported wounded. "Military reports said only six militias were wounded and we don't have reports about what the MILF is claiming," said Brig. Gen. Jose Angel Honrado, the spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Hundreds of civilians fled their homes in four villages -- Tapikan, Koloy, Nabundas and Pulang Lupa -- in Shariff Aguak for fear of being caught in the cross-fire.
Kabalu warned the fighting would escalate in other areas and could affect the peace talks if the militias continue to attack MILF forces. "We are only defending ourselves, but we are ready to fight," he said.
The governor, a staunch ally of President Gloria Arroyo, could not be reached for comment, but Nori Unas, the provincial administrator, said one of those killed in the bombing was the nephew of Ampatuan and that the bomb attack targeted the governor who was unhurt in the blast. The bomb, he said, was left near a parked vehicle on the market where the politician's convoy had passed. "The governor was obviously the target of the attack," Unas said.
In February, security and rebel forces clashed for weeks in Shariff Aguak and left more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.
President Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF, which is fighting for an independent Muslim state in the southern region, in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of fighting in Mindanao.
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