|
Fifty-One Killed as Philippine Muslim Declares War on Government
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, Nov. 19 (News Agencies) - Forty-eight armed followers of Muslim leader Nur Misuari and three soldiers were killed Monday after he declared war on the Philippines' government, sparking fierce clashes in the south of the country.
Fighting erupted when the movement leader-turned-governor Misuari's faction from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) attacked and seized several security outposts in the rebel stronghold of Jolo, Agence France- Presse (AFP) reported.
Misuari's aide, Abdurahman Jamasali, said they staged the attacks to prevent the holding of polls in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Incumbent ARMM governor Misuari is not running in the November 26 elections after President Gloria Arroyo backed a candidate from his rival's faction.
Officials said Misuari's forces attacked the headquarters of an army brigade in Jolo and at least two other military and police camps early Monday, seizing some of the outposts briefly.
"Forty-eight [men] from the forces of Misuari were killed" when government troops repulsed the attacks, the military southern command chief Lieutenant General Roy Cimatu said in Zamboanga city. "We have launched a counter-attack on the perimeter," he said.
By late afternoon Monday, fighting had subsided except around a Philippine Army Scout Ranger battalion outpost in Indanan town, he said. According to Cimatu, 27 soldiers and 13 MNLF gunmen were wounded.
Most of the MNLF dead were recovered around the brigade camp, while three Philippine Army Rangers died when the MNLF attacked their camp near Indanan.
The bloodshed erupted just three days after Muslims began fasting to mark the holy month of Ramadan while Arroyo was on a working visit to the United States.
The ground shook as air force planes and attack helicopters streaked across the skies of the remote southern island and army artillery opened up against MNLF positions, ABS-CBN television reported from the scene.
"The army's 104th Infantry Brigade beside the Jolo airport came under mortar attack by around 200 MNLF fighters in the morning," said army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jose Mabanta.
Arroyo ordered defense officials to "use the full force of the military against whatever group this is, which launched the attack", her spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said by telephone from Washington, AFP reported.
The rebellion has emerged as a new headache for Arroyo, who is holding peace talks with leaders of the other major Muslim separatist insurgency in the south, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The military on Monday accused Misuari of colluding with another rebel group, the Abu Sayyaf, in his revolt against the government.
The Abu Sayyaf is fighting a 5,000-member military task force in the nearby island of Basilan, where the group holds three hostages including an American Christian missionary couple.
Army spokesman Mabanta said reports of the Misuari-Abu Sayyaf links surfaced several days ago, giving the military enough time to build up a "very good defensive position".
He said four army battalions, or about 2,000 men, are now ranged against about 400 MNLF fighters.
Ferry and other links to Jolo island from Zamboanga city were severed while commercial establishments in Jolo city were shuttered as sporadic firing continued into the mid-afternoon.
In Zamboanga, MNLF forces were "making their presence felt" by brandishing firearms and intimidating civilians, another military spokesman, Brigadier General Edilberto Adan, said.
But Arroyo saw "no need" to cut short her week-long working visit to the United States, her spokesman Tiglao said.
Arroyo is set to hold talks with President George W. Bush in Washington on Tuesday to seek Washington's help in her government's campaign against the Abu Sayyaf.
Tiglao said it was up to Arroyo to decide what to do with Misuari if it were proven that he instigated the fighting. He said Misuari could not be located.
|
