Army offensive on vs MILF checkpoints

MATANOG, Maguindanao - Combined Marines and Army Rangers broke through critical stretches of the Secretary Narciso Ramos Highway yesterday, initially capturing two well-fortified detachments of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as they advanced to fully clear the thoroughfare of Moro rebels.

Maj. Julieto Ando, civil-military relations chief of the 6th Infantry Division, said there was heavy fighting along the highway with soldiers using artillery and armor support as they advanced into more hostile areas to dismantle illegal checkpoints of the MILF.

Spearheading the offensive were the 9th and 2nd Marine Battalion Landing Teams and an Army Ranger battalion, Ando said.

"The Army and the Marines cannot be blamed here because the rebels were the ones who provoked all these hostilities," he said.

Ando said the hostilities would not have erupted if the MILF heeded earlier pleas by civilians to remove its checkpoints along the highway and stop its excessive collection of "toll" from motorists.

In nearby Buldon town, combatants of the Army's 3rd Infantry Battalion and hundreds of Moro guerrillas have been clashing in four barangays since Thursday, forcing some 5,000 villagers to flee their homes.

Two soldiers, Sergeants Almario Bobis and Teodolfo Palomino, both of the 3rd IB, have been killed, while six others, including two from the 64th IB and a member of the elite Scout Ranger Battalion, have been wounded.