MILF gunmen ambushed an Army platoon near Tu-ngawan town in Zamboanga Sibugay late Tuesday, leaving five soldiers dead and three others wounded, Army battalion commander Pedro Cesar Ramboanga said.
Muslim rebels in a boat also harassed a military outpost on the small southern island of Pandilusan near Tungawan on Tuesday night, killing a fisherman and wounding two other civilians who live near the camp, said provincial police chief Raul Gomez.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu owned up to the ambush but said the guerrillas killed eight soldiers and wounded 11 others.
Kabalu said the ambush was part of their guerrilla tactical offensive against the military. "This is our last recourse," he said.
On the other hand, Maj. Gen. Glicerio Sua of the Army’s Ist Division in Western Mindanao reported the rebels initially attacked a detachment in a remote village near Tungawan, forcing the 33rd Infantry Battalion to send reinforcements.
"The harassment could be a decoy as the MILF ambushed the reinforcing soldiers," he said.
Sua, however, was not able to confirm if there were casualties or injuries on the rebel side.
MILF guerrillas also intensified their attacks in various military positions and civilian targets in Central Mindanao.
The military said the rebels even attempted to bomb another power transmission pylon of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) in Kaligasan, a remote village in Kabacan, North Cotabato, Army spokesman Maj. Julieto Ando said.
"Fortunately, only one of the bombs they strapped on the tower exploded, causing only its silver paint to chip off. The other explosives were safely deactivated by Army bomb experts and supply of power in the area was not interrupted," Ando said.
He said the bombs recovered from the scene were fashioned from B-40 rocket propelled grenade launchers with improvised blasting mechanism.
Another group of rebels also tried to take over an Army detachment in Barangay Pisan, also in Kabacan, triggering a 30-minute firefight which left three of the attackers killed.
Ando added a group of rebels opened fire with B-40 rockets on patrolling soldiers, triggering an hour-long gunbattle in Barangay Upper Minabay in Buldon, Maguindanao.
Heavily armed rebels also strafed a village of Bilaan natives in Barangay Bunawan at the boundary of Tulunan, North Cotabato and Columbio, Sultan Kudarat.
The rebels also bombarded with B-40 rockets several militia detachments in Barangays Mamadi and Pedtugian in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat.
The two barangays are adjacent to Barangay Tinumiges in the same town, the scene of a fierce gunbattle last Feb. 13 that left 41 rebels dead.
It was relatively quiet in Northern Mindanao, but the Army’s 4th Infantry Division has declared a heightened alert following the spate of retaliatory attacks by MILF guerrillas in central Mindanao, particularly in nearby Lanao provinces.
The statement focused on the military’s overrunning the MILF stronghold in Pikit where almost 200 people were killed in the four-day intense gunbattle.
The military said they attacked the MILF enclave because the rebels were providing shelter to terrorist and kidnap-for-ransom gangs in the area.
However, the MILF denied that it ever sheltered terrorist or kidnapping groups and cited government statements which they said proved that the real objective was to oust the MILF in the area and capture its top leaders.
The rebels quoted an alleged government order saying that the military must arrest Salamat, MILF military commander Muhammad Murad, and spokesman Kabalu, among other leaders.
"The plan is to capture Salamat dead or alive," the MILF quoted the government order as saying.
It also cited alleged government plans to develop possible oil fields in Liguasan marshlands beside the Buliok complex, in cooperation with the Malaysian state oil company Petronas.
A parish priest in Pikit also blamed the government for not exhausting all means to end the hostilities in the town.
"I don’t understand why this war has to happen again. We feel deceived and betrayed," Fr. Roberto Layson said. "And I hold this government more accountable for the suffering of our civilians because, as a state, it is in a moral high ground to exhaust all peaceful means to prevent war for the sake of its citizenry."
Since the fall of the Buliok complex, the MILF has carried a series of retaliatory actions against military and civilian targets.
The violence has also cast a shadow on the prospect of renewed peace negotiations between the MILF and the government which were originally scheduled to be held in Malaysia this year.
Salamat reportedly issued a call of total war against the government last Monday.
Despite the "total war" order supposedly issued by Salamat, the government said they will still proceed with peace negotiations with the rebels.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Eduardo Ermita earlier said the government will proceed with the peace talks with the MILF after President Arroyo secured the commitments of Malaysia and Libya in supporting government’s efforts.
For his part, administration Sen. Noli de Castro expressed optimism that the intervention of the governments of Malaysia and Libya will end the ongoing hostilities.
In a statement, De Castro said the two countries played a big role in bringing peace to Mindanao in 1992 because "these are the two countries that are highly respected by Muslims."
De Castro urged the MILF and the government to always leave their door open to peaceful negotiations.
"Aside from lives lost among the combatants, the civilians, especially the women and children, become innocent victims of war whose memories will hound our country the rest of our lives," he said. — With John Unson, Mike Frialde, Bong Fabe, Katherine Adraneda, Jose Rodel Clapano, AFP