7 MILF rebels slain in North Cotabato, Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  – Seven Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels were killed while two government combatants were slightly wounded in separate encounters in Alamada, North Cotabato and Datu Piang, Maguindanao yesterday.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, civil-military relations chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the hostilities in Barangay Andavit, Datu Piang town erupted when recalcitrant forces of the MILF opened fire on soldiers verifying the presence of armed men in the area.

Meanwhile, officials in Alamada, a hinterland town in the first district of North Cotabato, said three MILF rebels were killed in encounters preceding the hostilities in Datu Piang.           – John Unson, James Mananghaya