MILF rebels' plan to blast bridge foiled

TALAYAN, Maguindanao - Elements of the Army's 6th Infantry Division foiled the other day an attempt by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels to blast a bridge linking two critical stretches of the embattled Isulan-Cotabato Highway in Barangay Bagan here.

Patrolling soldiers have gunned down six MILF guerrillas and recovered seven assorted firearms and B-40 rockets in sporadic clashes along the highway since Tuesday.

Last Saturday, Moro guerrillas blasted power transmission lines of the National Power Corp. in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, causing a massive power outage.

But Muhaquer Icbal, chairman of the MILF's information committee, denied that their forces tried to rig powerful explosives at the Bagan Bridge, claiming the accusation was another maneuver to justify the military's continuing offensive on their territories.

"There is no truth about it. That is a virtual orgy of lies. That has always been the case ...scenario-making...always projecting wild scenarios in an attempt to controvert the real situation in the field," Icbal said.

An Army Scout Ranger, Pfc. Fernando Gaña, was wounded in the skirmishes, according to Maj. Julieto Ando, acting civil-military operations chief of the 6th ID here.

Ando said the first encounter took place at 5:30 a.m. in Barangay Upper Kambingi in Datu Piang when MILF rebels opened fire at a team of Scout Rangers verifying the reported heavy presence of armed men in the supposedly neutral area.

Police said barangay officials claimed to have recovered three cadavers of young MILF fighters in a grassy lot not far away from the scene of the firefight.

About six hours later, Ando said another group of MILF rebels pounded with rockets and shoulder-fired M-79 grenades a squad of soldiers belonging to the Army's 15th Infantry Battalion, who were securing an open field in Upper Satan, Shariff Aguak town.

"The soldiers were forced to return fire just to secure themselves and to prevent the rebels from getting too close to their position," Ando said.

Ando said the firefight, which lasted for 30 minutes, waned only when reinforcements started maneuvering to cordon the position of the rebels.

The hostilities in Shariff Aguak were followed by another encounter between marauding MILF rebels and combatants of the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion in Barangay Gagan, Talayan town.

Ando said the rebels positioned themselves at a high ground just a few meters away from the Isulan-Cotabato Highway when Scout Rangers arrived at the scene, triggering a running gunbattle.

"The civilians were the ones who reported to the military the convergence of armed men in the area. They were so afraid that the rebels might block again the portion of the Isulan-Cotabato Highway that traverses their village," Ando said.

The Scout Rangers killed three MILF guerrillas, two of them identified only as Abdul and Moctar, in the ensuing firefight, and recovered two M-16 rifles, an M-79 grenade launcher, 29 live B-40 rockets, a high-frequency two-way radio, a compass, a map and schematic sketches of strategic areas straddled by the Isulan-Cotabato Highway and two main bridges linking populated areas in the towns of Talayan and Datu Piang.

Apart from the firearms recovered from the scene, an evacuee reported to an Army detachment that villagers recovered a green bag, apparently left by the fleeing rebels, containing electrical wires, two table clocks, rolls of tape, and mixtures of white and yellow powders packed in cigarette reams, believed to be incendiary chemicals.

Citing a report from local officials in the second district of Maguindanao, Capt. Lino Aso, 6th ID spokesman, said the rebels, led by Ustadz Amiril Ombra, were really planning to blast a bridge in Barangay Bagan, Talayan and another one in Barangay Meta, Shariff Aguak, both traversed by the national highway.

"We were just fortunate that people in Maguindanao are now very vigilant and supportive of the government's pacification campaign in the province," Aso said.

The MILF has begun holding formal peace talks with the government. The technical committees of both panels failed to finalize the agenda in a meeting this week.

Meanwhile, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. welcomed yesterday the offer of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to broker the peace negotiations with the MILF.

However, Pimentel, chairman of the Senate committee on local government, said the government should first rely on its own efforts in settling the conflict before accepting Wahid's offer.

Pimentel sought clarification on whether Wahid will play a mediating role only in his capacity as president of Indonesia or under the auspices of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

The OIC, through the Committee of Six led by Indonesia, successfully brokered the talks between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front that led to the signing of a peace accord on Sept. 2, 1996. - With Roel Pareño