ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP)-Philippine troops shelled suspected southern Muslim resistance strongholds Sunday after retreating Muslim fighters attacked several army posts.
According to radio reports, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado was in Kauswagan on Sunday to assess the security situation. He has ordered the military to neutralize the MILF, which opened formal peace negotiations with Manila early this year.
The 15,000-strong MILF, which has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the south since 1978, has accused the military of provoking the clashes while conducting the talks.
Early this year, government troops overran a major MILF training camp in nearby Maguindanao province. Some 3,000 personnel from the army's elite special action forces, scout rangers, and marines have been dispatched to the area to conduct anti-rebel operations, the military said.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front [MILF] fighters attacked an army command post in Kadalawan village, Munai town, in the southern province of Lanao del Norte early Sunday, said local marine commander Brigadier General Emmanuel Tordosio. The military retaliated with artillery fire, Tordosio said.
"We will run after the rebels and pursue them wherever they hide until the enemies are flushed out," he said. "We intend to finish them off."
Military southern command chief Major General Diomedio Villanueva said there were no immediate reports of casualties from the latest clashes, but said "troops continued shelling suspected rebel positions."
Intense fighting began on Thursday. The following day about 400 MILF fighters took control of the municipal hall in Kauswagan village, where they held some 329 civilians and government workers hostage for five hours.
The military late Friday stormed the village hall, killing five MILF fighters. Retreating fighters on Saturday attacked a government militia detachment in Inagungan town, adjacent to Kauswagan, killing 3 militiamen and wounding 4 others.
At least 21 fighters, 9 soldiers, 3 government militiamen and a policeman have died in the clashes, and at least 20 Muslim fighters have been wounded. MILF military chief Mohamad Murad warned the fighting could spill over into other areas if government troops did not cease their movements, and accused the military of breaking a Saturday truce intended to allow them to return to their base.
"Our apprehension is that if their operation will continue, fighting may spill over to other areas. If these [military] attacks don't cease we will be forced to react to their attacks," said Murad.
He charged the military launched an offensive only hours after the truce agreement, and said the government's "double-blade approach" in dealing with the MILF has eroded "confidence building" initiatives both sides had been working on since peace talks began early this year.
"We have already experienced several times that the military's actions differ from what is being discussed during negotiations. We cannot trust assurances from the government since these don't have meaning, and everything has a limit," said Murad.
