4 killed in fresh Central Mindanao clash

COTABATO CITY — Two Army soldiers and two civilians, one of them a baby, were killed in the latest attack on civilian and military targets by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Central Mindanao.

Four others were wounded when another band of rebels raided a barangay in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao where foreign donors were operating livelihood projects for former MILF fighters.

Killed were Cpl. Ruben Bacarro and Pfc. Laurel Nambong, of the Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion, a tricycle driver known only as Soliman, and baby Datu Diwata.

The wounded villagers are Maria Theresa Gomer, 26, Alvin Diwata, 30, Paugia Aba, 40 and Jimbo Lumanda, 38. They are confined at the Maguindanao provincial hospital in nearby Shariff Aguak town.

Inspector Glicerio Ragudos, police chief of Pikit, North Cotabato, said the two soldiers, who were stationed at an Army base in Kabasalan near the Liguasan Marsh, were on their way to Pikit for their daily marketing on board Soliman’s tricycle when the rebels blocked their path and opened fire.

In the second attack, Diwata was killed and the four villagers wounded when MILF rebels, led by Amiril Cato Ombra, shelled the farming village of Kambingi with anti-tank rockets and 60 MM mortar.

The rebels also opened fire on soldiers sent to evacuate civilians wounded in the shelling, provoking a two-hour running gunbattle, which waned only after the rebels retreated upon seeing Army reinforcements, backed by Simba combat vehicles, closing in.

Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Diwata died from shrapnel wounds sustained during the attack.

The attacks came after MILF rebels harassed various military detachments in secluded areas in Datu Piang town, provoking brief skirmishes.

Another group of rebels also set fire with kerosene and dried coconut leaves a wooden power transmission post of the Maguindanao Electric Cooperative in a roadside barangay in Ampatuan town.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Renoir Pascua, spokesman of Armed Forces Southern Command, said MILF rebels blew up Thursday a steel relay tower of the National Power Corporation (NPC) in Makilala town, North Catabato.

Quoting reports, Pascua said the rebels rigged a 12-foot steel pylon in Barangay Saging with an improvised explosive device before setting it off.

No one was reported hurt but the powerful blast damaged the pylon and caused a power outage in Makilala and General Santos and Davao cities.

MILF rebels attacked Barangay Kambingi as OIC representatives, jointly led by Mohammad Abdullah of Indonesia and Habib Deeb of Libya, arrived on Tuesday in Cotabato City for a dialogue with Gov. Parouk Hussin of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Senga.

Political leaders in Maguindanao and North Cotabato said the attacks were meant to get the attention of a special team from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) touring Central Mindanao to evaluate implementation of the peace agreement between the government and Moro National Liberation Front.

The OIC helped broker the peace accord, which ended the MNLF’s 30-year struggle for self-rule in Mindanao and paved the way for the integration of qualified guerillas into the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police.

Sources among Muslim preachers in Datu Piang said that the rebels who killed the soldiers and attacked Kambingi were also behind the burning last month of more than 40 houses in Barangay Salvo, also in Datu Piang.

Members of Maguindanao’s peace and order council said they received feedback from barangay officials in Datu Piang and Shariff Aguak towns that eight rebels were killed in the ensuing firefight.

Soldiers recovered from the scene a shoulder-fired rocket launcher, a dozen anti-tank rockets, assorted ammunition and fragmentation grenades.

In Lanao del Norte, at least 3,000 residents of Barangays Mentering, Mayahayahay, Campo Uno, and Upper Poblacion in Maigo town fled their homes following fierce fighting between government troops and MILF rebels.

Maigo Mayor Rafael Rizalda said the residents of the four barangays are now housed in three evacuation centers in the town proper.

Assistance has been sent to Maigo by Lanao del Norte Gov. Imelda Dimaporo, Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo, and Rep. Alipio Badeles, he added.

Last April 24, Rizalda led 16 armed civilians and 16 Army soldiers in stopping 500 MILF rebels from attacking Maigo at a defense line about 100 meters from the town hall. – With John Unson, Roel Pareño, Lino dela Cruz