Troops retake town from MILF rebels

COTABATO CITY -- Government forces recaptured Talayan town in Maguindanao from Muslim separatist rebels yesterday and opened a highway blockaded by guerrillas following clashes that left six people dead, the military reported.

Five other people were slain, including three alleged Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters, in two other related incidents that shook Mindanao over the past 24 hours.

The upsurge of violence occurred ahead of peace talks next week aimed at ending the 21-year MILF war for secession in Mindanao.

About 1,000 MILF rebels left Talayan at dawn yesterday, 15 hours after they occupied the municipal hall, said local Army commander Brig. Gen. Jose Torrelavega.

The guerrillas descended on the lightly defended town some 40 kilometers from this city on Monday afternoon, forcing civilian employees and the lightly armed policemen to leave the building at gunpoint.

Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said the rebels staged the attack to gain leverage in the next round of peace talks scheduled to start on Jan. 17.

"It is possible that they are trying to assert their authority in the area," he said.

Torrelavega said a separate rebel column abandoned their blockade of the Isulan-Cotabato Highway linking this city to General Santos City following a government assault led by artillery and rocket-firing military planes.

"We have cleared the highway but it remained impassable because the MILF rebels are still along the perimeter sniping and harassing government troops in Talayan and the nearby town of Datu Piang," Torrelavega said.

He said the fighting left four guerrillas and two civilians dead. Eight soldiers and eight civilians were also wounded, he added.

The clashes displaced about 12,000 people in the mainly Muslim towns of Talayan, Shariff Aguak and Datu Piang, said provincial health director Tahir Sulaik.

Local radio station dxMS said one of their remote broadcast vans was seized by the MILF.

Another broadcast van, belonging to ABS-CBN, was seized by the rebels who also robbed the vehicle's passengers of their valuables at gunpoint.

The vehicles had driven up to rebel positions on Monday and yesterday and attempted a live broadcast from there. Eight reporters and cameramen on board the vehicles were freed unharmed.

In other incidents in Mindanao, two civilian motorists were shot dead and a third was wounded before dawn yesterday by government troops conducting searches outside Zamboanga City.

And on Monday, three suspected Muslim rebels were killed when a bomb they were apparently assembling at a Zamboanga hotel room exploded. Two hotel guests were wounded in the blast.

The military said the rebels burned eight houses along the Isulan-Cotabato Highway. A small Army detachment was also destroyed when hit by a rebel mortar round, they said.

The MILF, on the other hand, said its forces destroyed four armored troop transporters but the military denied this.

MILF vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar said yesterday that skirmishes were continuing with the military using artillery and two planes to strafe MILF positions.

Jaafar told The STAR that MILF rebels were able to take over Shariff Aguak and Datu Piang towns despite continued clashes with the military. He denied the military's claim of having regained control of Talayan town.

"The hostilities are still ongoing and we are still in control of those areas," he said.

Officials of the Army's 6th Infantry Division admitted that at least 13 soldiers have been wounded since the skirmishes broke out Saturday, the day the Muslims' holy month of Ramadan ended.

And hundreds of MILF rebels have reportedly regrouped and blockaded anew two critical areas of the Isulan-Cotabato highway.

Maguindanao Gov. Zacaria Candao and Oblate missionary Eliseo Mercado said they tried to convince the rebels not to pursue their threat to set fire town halls and school buildings along the highway if the military continues with counter offensives.

But the two said their efforts have yet to yield any result. "What's important for now is that we have opened a communication line with them," they said.

Amid fears that the hostilities could scuttle next week's scheduled talks between the government and the MILF, Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Angelo Reyes said he was confident the negotiations would continue.

"The situation is manageable," he said. However, Reyes noted that soldiers were under instructions "to retaliate" when attacked.

"We will proceed with the peace process but we will not tolerate any actions of the MILF that would violate the general agreement on the cessation of hostilities," he said.

The MILF has been fighting for a separate Islamic state since 1978. Exploratory talks between the group and the government started in late 1996 and a year later, the two sides forged a ceasefire which has often been violated.

MILF's Jaafar accused the military of provoking the latest clashes. "We are open to dialogue," he said, referring to the scheduled meeting of the two sides in Sultan Kudarat on Monday to discuss conditions that would allow them to resume formal peace talks next Wednesday.

In Manila, Presidential Spokesman Fernando Barican said the government intends to pursue peace talks with the MILF despite the renewed clashes.

"The peace talks will push through as scheduled," he said.

Meanwhile, Defense Undersecretary Orlando Soriano, the government's chief negotiator, will meet today with Alim Mimbantas, his counterpart in the MILF, for the possible signing of a truce that would stop the clashes.

Soriano and Mimbantas will meet at Maguindanao's capitol this afternoon to thresh out issues on the latest fighting.

Should the two come to terms, they are expected to sign in front of local authorities an agreement on the possible pullout and repositioning of forces.