MILF bomb expert, 18, captured

An 18-year-old Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrilla was captured yesterday after soldiers drove out a band of rebels that occupied two towns in Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato provinces in Mindanao.

Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said they learned upon interrogation that the captured rebel, Samih Gandalibo, is an MILF bomb specialist.

Gandalibo surrendered when his comrades retreated without him after a clash with government troops in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat. Ando said the teenager is being treated well.

Villagers said six MILF rebels were killed in the one-hour gun battle but soldiers found only two bodies, which were promptly turned over to local Muslim leaders to be given a decent burial in accordance with Islamic custom.

Skirmishes between the MILF and the military began Friday when the separatists occupied farming communities in Columbio and in the town of Tulunan in neighboring North Cotabato to the north.

The latest clashes led to more than 26 deaths on both sides, said Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya, chief of the military’s Southern Command.

The military accuses the MILF of harboring the so-called Pentagon kidnap gang — which Washington considers a terrorist organization — after Pentagon gunmen were spotted alongside MILF guerrillas.

The Pentagon, some of whose members are allegedly rogue MILF members, gained notoriety for kidnapping mostly foreigners in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the fighting has spread to neighboring Maguindanao province, northwest of Columbio, the military reported yesterday.

Two MILF rebels were killed in a dawn clash yesterday with an army unit near the town of Datu Paglas. There were no government casualties in that fight.

Col. Cardozo Luna, 602nd Brigade commander, said the clash in Columbio began when the guerrillas tried to take a hill occupied by the army’s 39th Infantry Battalion.

Soldiers found over a dozen B-40 anti-tank rockets and 50 rocket grenades left by the retreating rebels.

"Now it’s our turn to file a formal protest against the MILF for violating the ceasefire. We have gathered pieces of evidence to corroborate our findings that the rebel forces here have indeed violated the ceasefire by training new recruits on handling of explosives, enforcing heavy taxation on poor farmers and for harboring criminals in their territories here, which are now under military control," Luna said.

Ando said Gandalibo is being cared for by the 6th Infantry Division’s Sallam (peace) unit, made up of Muslim soldiers.

He was given fresh clothes, food and vitamins after army medics found he was suffering from low blood pressure probably caused by anemia.

Ando said they want to impress upon the MILF that the military is "keen on upholding the rights of captured enemies and in preserving their dignity as human beings."

The government and the estimated 12,000-strong MILF concluded a ceasefire agreement last year and have been holding informal talks, brokered by Malaysia.

The rebels have been fighting for a separate Islamic state in Mindanao since 1977. — With Roel Pareño, AFP