Gov't troops retake Lanao town hall

Government forces stormed the town hall of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte last Friday, killing five suspected Muslim rebels and freeing 329 civilians and municipal officials held hostage by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas inside the building.

Three militiamen and two civilians were also reportedly shot dead by the retreating rebels.

Maj. Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, commander of the Armed Forces' Southern Command based in Zamboanga City, said combined elements of the elite Marines and Scout Rangers launched the surprise attack to end a five-hour standoff and regain control of the town hall at about 10 p.m.

About 400 MILF fighters occupied Kauswagan starting at 4 p.m. Friday, a day after the separatist rebels bombarded with mortar shells at least seven Army posts in three towns in Lanao del Norte.

Soldiers retaliated by pounding rebel positions with 150 artillery rounds as they fought back to retake the municipal hall.

Most of the guerrillas retreated under cover of darkness aboard motorboats seized from fishermen at the height of the fighting, but about 60 remained inside the building.

"The last remnants of the MILF rebels fled at around 10 p.m. They were going berserk. They were shooting at any target. It was apparent that nobody was leading them and they seemed to be confused and at a loss," Villanueva said.

"We are now in full control of the town," Army Brig. Gen. Roy Cimatu declared.

The military said the MILF fighters fleeing the fighting attacked a paramilitary unit detachment in Inagungan town adjacent to Kauswagan, killing three of the militiamen and wounding four others.

Villanueva said the two slain civilians, both in their teens, were a pumpboat operator who refused to allow the rebels to board his craft, and a bystander.

But MILF deputy chief for military affairs Al Haj Murad denied that their men were forced to leave the town hall during the military offensive, saying they voluntarily vacated the building after peaceful negotiations with local officials.

The Southcom chief also said the number of fatalities could increase as field reports indicated that the MILF was engaging in sporadic skirmishes with soldiers manning other military detachments in an apparent attempt to divert attention from the fighting in Kauswagan.

Southcom chief of staff Col. Ernesto de Guzman said the troops were still conducting mopping up operations as of yesterday to flush out stragglers who may be hiding in nearby hinterlands.

The soldiers also cleared a highway linking three neighboring cities which had been blocked by the MILF guerrillas with boulders and coconut trees.

The military set up checkpoints in strategic points of the highway for any rebel posing as passenger on provincial buses. Vehicles were also checked for any bombs planted by the MILF.

Quoting intelligence sources, the military said nearly half of the 400 rebels who overran the town hall were new recruits on a "test mission," most of whom were in their late teens.

Hostilities broke out early Thursday morning in Kauswagan's Inudaran village where some 200 MILF fighters tried to capture an Army outpost, setting off clashes that left at least 15 MILF rebels and two soldiers dead.

The following day, about 400 rebels stormed Kauswagan, hoisted a rebel flag at the town square and took positions on a main road fronting the municipal hall.

The rebels also felled two power cable towers in Marawi City in nearby Lanao del Sur province, causing power outages in the city.

The military deployed more than 2,000 Army and Marine soldiers, backed by 10 aircraft, to quell the rebel offensive.

MILF spokesman Mohagher Iqbal said the fighting erupted after Army troops approached a rebel camp in Inudaran last Wednesday to arrest two MILF guerrillas suspected of bombing buses aboard a ferry that killed 37 people in Ozamiz City.

The military and the MILF gave conflicting reports as usual on the number of casualties in the three-day fighting in Mindanao.

Army officials said more than 40 rebels, nine soldiers and two civilians died in the gunbattles.

Army spokesman Major Johnny Macanas said about 15 MILF guerrillas were killed as troops shelled a rebel position on Friday.

However, Murad said MILF forces killed 17 soldiers when they blew up two military armored personnel carriers with rocket-propelled grenades.

"Three were martyred on our side," Murad said.

He added that their men raided Kauswagan to ease military pressure on a guerrilla camp which he said was under attack by government forces in violation of a standing ceasefire. - With Roel Parreño, Alvin Tarroza, Lino de la Cruz, wire services