Moro rebels burn houses in North Cotabato attack

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Moro separatist guerrillas raided a village in Carmen, North Cotabato, burning houses and stealing draft animals, the military said yesterday.

At least four houses were burned to the ground and two horses owned by the Christian villagers of Libertad were carted away by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) attackers last Friday, Maj. Salih Indanan, spokesman of the Armed Forces' Southern Command, said.

"Moro rebels want to drive the Christians out of the area," Indanan said.

The village lies close to a major dam project in the town of Carmen, whose construction has been delayed several times by MILF harassment.

Indanan said the Moro guerrillas swooped down on Libertad at about 1 a.m. Friday in what could the first violation of the ceasefire reimposed by MILF and government peace panels in a two-day meeting in Cotabato City this week.

The attack prompted Lt. Gen. Deomidio Villanueva, the new Southcom chief, to deploy troops of the 6th Infantry Division to protect Christian-populated communities in North Cotabato from MILF harassment.

Meanwhile, militiamen gunned down five MILF rebels in an hour-long firefight in North Cotabato the other day, just hours after the peace panels agreed to resume the negotiations and reimpose the ceasefire.

Maj. Julieto Ando, information officer of the 6th ID, said the firefight in Barangay Dungguan, Mlang town erupted when 50 rebels strafed houses with rockets and assault rifles.

Ando said the militiamen, led by a barangay councilman, fended off the attackers, killing four of them on the spot.

As the rebels fled towards Rajah Muda, a known MILF enclave east of the Liguasan Marsh, the militiamen gave chase, killing another guerrilla.

The government and MILF panels will hold another round of formal talks in Cotabato City next week to formulate measures to prevent clashes while the negotiations are under way.

The MILF is a 15,000-member Moro group seeking to set up a separate Islamic state in Mindanao. President Estrada has given the peace panels until June to iron out a political settlement.- With John Unson, AFP