MILF attack: 13 wounded

MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato — Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas attacked at dawn yesterday five far-flung barangays in North Cotabato, wounding 13 residents and taking six others hostage.

Sources told The STAR that the six captives were freed by the rebels in the middle of a rice field in another town at around 5:20 p.m. yesterday.

They are Cirilo Alegado and his 12-year-old son Joseph, Rhea May Alegado, one-year-old Ivy Alegado, and Marcelino and Merlinda Sabangan.

Troops with help from barangay officials have taken them to safety.

The attack on the towns of Mlang and Midsayap came a day after the government and the MILF agreed to work toward resuming stalled peace talks.

At Malacañang, President Arroyo said she is counting on Malaysia and other member-countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to help the government bring peace to Mindanao.

"We are thankful to Malaysia for its very important role in the peace process," she said. "We are looking forward to work closely with the (OIC) so that we could have long-lasting settlement of this conflict (in Mindanao)."

Speaking over radio station dzRH yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo said the government and the MILF are ready to resume peace talks to pave the way for a peace agreement.

"The government is prepared to enter into confidence-building measures in order to push forward the negotiations," she said. "We accept any move that would ensure lasting peace in Mindanao."

The United States has promised to pour $115 million in aid to war-torn areas in Mindanao as soon as the MILF signed a peace agreement with the government, Mrs. Arroyo added.

Wounded in the latest MILF atrocity were Florido Fontanilla, chairman of Barangay Nas, and his wife; Celso Fontanilla Jr., Sangcopan Gumamao, Sambuto Ulangkaya, Ludovico Viluan, Jimmy Jumuad and Manaligid Umayao.

Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, Armed Forces Southern Command spokesman, said the rebels first attacked Barangays Nas, Tumbras and Baliki at around 4 a.m., and 30 minutes later, 80 MILF guerrillas fired rockets and assault rifles on the detachment of the 6th Civilian Active Auxiliary, and clusters of civilian houses.

Lucero said the militiamen stood their ground and resisted the attacking rebels, sparking a brief gunbattle.

"The rebels fled taking six civilians using them as human shields," he said.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the target of the rebels were the military and their camps, and not the civilian population.

"There is no ceasefire yet and our forces are just on their active defense move," he said. "The latest offensive has not violated the joint statement for the resumption of the peace talks."

It was the third time the MILF had attacked civilian targets in North Cotabato.

Investigations showed Viluan, Jumuad and Umayao were on a tricycle bound for the town proper from Barangay Nas when the rebels thrice fired rockets at the vehicle.

The rebels then fired at nearby houses with machineguns and fired rockets and grenade projectiles before taking the stocks of grain kept in makeshift shelters and dozens of farm animals.

Witnesses said the rebels attacked from different directions and opened fire on houses with anti-tank rockets and assault rifles.

Military and police sources said the raiders were led by three MILF commanders who are identified with MILF chieftain Hashim Salamat.

Before raiding Midsayap yesterday, the MILF rebels reportedly bombarded Barangay Inas in Mlang with B-40 rockets, wounding five people, who were identified as Abeth Fernandez, Alicia Camponero, Randy Lumbaya, Linda Peñano and Adela Ocumen.

Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said they have tightened security in farming communities in North Cotabato and other parts of central Mindanao.

"The rebels used the civilian hostages as human shields against pursuing government troops," he said.

Senga said he has asked local executives in Central Mindanao to monitor the movement of rebel forces in their towns to allow government troops to launch preemptive strikes.

Since last month, the 6th ID has launched, with help from barangay officials, more than a dozen preemptive strikes against MILF rebels, he added.

Senga said the strikes thwarted three rebel attempts to block secluded stretches of the national highway between North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces and from raiding at least nine remote barangays.

Last Sunday, suspected MILF rebels looted two farming communities in Barangay Mayo in Columbio town in Sultan Kudarat, where Muslim and Christian farmers live peacefully, and used dozens of civilians as human shields against soldiers and militiamen during a shootout.

Col. Agustin Dema-ala, commander of the Army’s 301st Brigade, said a militiaman was wounded in the ensuing firefight, which erupted when the rebels opened fire at the soldiers sent to rescue the hostages.

Led by Commanders Kagui Abbas Bukol and Abdulbayan, the rebels were forced to free their captives after sensing that pursuing soldiers, backed by militiamen and civilian volunteers, had surrounded them, he added.

Barangay officials in Columbio said nine rebels were killed, and that five others wounded in the firefight were dragged away from the scene by fleeing comrades. — With reports from Roel Pareño, Marichu Villanueva, Pia Lee-Brago, Jose Rodel Clapano, AP