13 MILF rebs killed in latest clash

COTABATO CITY — Government forces killed 13 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels the other day, foiling separate attempts by the MILF to plunder a farming community in Midsayap, Cotabato and to take over a roadside base of an Army engineering unit in Matanog, Maguindanao.

In Sultan Kudarat, at least 10 MILF rebels were killed and several others wounded in a gunbattle with policemen in the town of Kalamansig last Sunday.

Major Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said a band of MILF rebels surrounded a farming village in Barangay Baliki in Midsayap, North Cotabato, but they were driven away by civilian volunteers and soldiers after a 30-minute firefight.

As the rebels were trading shots with the volunteers and soldiers, another group created a diversion by torching a nearby house owned by farmer Romeo Lacal and stealing away his farm animals.

Residents of Baliki confirmed that seven MILF rebels were killed in the firefight. Five of them were identified as Karim Bukhari, Saguiridan Tampad, Mokamad Salih, Samsudin Onting and Kadil Pagal.

Government troops who pursued the rebels recovered several plastic containers filled with kerosene the rebels left behind.

Police investigators are convinced that the rebels planned to burn houses in Baliki, whose Muslim and Christian residents have been supporting the government’s campaign against local secessionist forces.

Preceding the incident in Midsayap was an attempt by a group of MILF rebels to take over a detachment of the Engineering Support Battalion, a unit of the 54th Army Engineering Brigade, along a secluded stretch of the Secretary Narciso Ramos Highway in Matanog, Maguindanao.

The rebels crawled toward the detachment from three directions and opened fire on government troops with B-40 anti-tank rockets and assault rifles, triggering a 20-minute gun battle.

The Army engineers, armed and prepared for harassment by rebel forces following three attacks on their positions in Matanog, returned fire and succeeded in driving the rebels away with heavy firepower, and killing six of them.

Villagers in the surrounding communities said the slain rebels, identified with MILF military adviser Al-Haj Murad, belonged to the same group which ambushed a team of Army engineers in nearby Camp Abubakar last February.

The engineers were on their way to make improvements to the surroundings of a mosque not far from their headquarters. The ambush left an engineer dead and eight of his companions wounded.

On the other hand, policemen under Senior Superintendent Nestor Sanares of Police Regional Office 12, responding to the reported presence of MILF rebels in Kalamansig last Sunday, drove an estimated 50 rebels away from the town. There were no reported casualties among the policemen, but 10 rebels were killed and an undetermined number wounded in the firefight.

Rebels also attacked a navy fastcraft docked at the Kalamansig pier two days ago.

The MILF rebels, aboard small motorized boats, fired on the navy craft with assault rifles and escaped before government troops were able to retaliate with heavy machine guns.

Military Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko directed troops to mount offensives against the MILF rebels in the area, as well as coordinate with local policemen in pursuit operations against these rebels.

The MILF, which claims to have 12,000 members, has been attacking civilians and government installations after they were evicted from their former stronghold in Buliok Complex in the town of Pikit, North Cotabato last February.

Meanwhile, dignitaries from the Organization of Islamic Conference are scheduled to have a dialogue today with local officials and representatives of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division to assess the implementation of the Sept. 2, 1996 ceasefire between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The dignitaries belong to the OIC’s Ministerial Committee of the Eight, an ad hoc group of officials from the governments of eight Islamic countries that directly monitor the implementation of the peace agreement. — With Roel Pareño