77 MILF rebs killed in clashes

ZAMBOANGA CITY —- At least 77 guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been killed, 14 wounded and 97 have surrendered as the sustained AFP offensive entered its second week.

Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) chief Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko said the casualty figures were based on body counts while the number of wounded came from intelligence surveillance data gathered from the front lines.

Kyamko made the announcement as government troops and MILF rebels traded artillery and mortar fire in Kararao complex in Barira town, Maguindanao yesterday.

Government troops started firing 30 rounds of 105-mm. howitzers late Friday on MILF positions after some 100 rebels shelled the Army’s 75th Infantry Battalion detachment in the area for the past two days.

"The bombardment disrupted the harassment activity of the enemy," Kyamko said.

He claimed initial reports indicated at least 75 MILF rebels were wounded as government troops launched a massive ground offensive on the boundaries of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur against the group of Commander Yahyah Lucsadatu, one of the rebel leaders who led the attack in Maigo and Kolambugan towns last April 24.

Kyamko said the offensive reduced the total strength of Lucsadatu to 122 armed followers who have been moving outside Lanao province.

"There is a good indication that his group is weakening," he said.

The Southcom chief reported that two soldiers have been missing in action for a week now since the military launched punitive strikes against the MILF.

Kyamko said the two missing soldiers were among the 13 total number of casualties from the military since the offensive began May 18.

He said they have yet to make certain the fate of the two missing soldiers if either they were killed in action or captured by the fleeing MILF rebels from Munai town.

"Troops are also locating the whereabouts of the two soldiers who went missing in action while in combat mission," Kyamko said.

The military also said more troops were being deployed in areas identified as possible escape routes.

Navy spokesman Commander Geronimo Malabanan said troops from the Naval Forces South (Navforsouth), particularly the 25th Marine Company, are now mobilizing off the coast of Zamboanga del Norte to block the escaping guerrillas responsible for the attack in Siocon last May 4.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes earlier claimed the attack in Siocon, which left 34 people dead, was meant to divert the attention of the military flushing out the remaining members of the bandit group Abu Sayyaf in Pilas island near Basilan.

Further harassment

As if taunting the military, MILF guerrillas set fire to 20 houses as they simultaneously raided two farming communities near the Buliok complex at the border of Pikit, North Cotabato and Pagalungan, Maguindanao yesterday.

Brig. Gen. Carduzo Luna, commander of the Army’s 602nd Brigade, said the rebels first harassed the neighboring villages in Barangay Kabasalan in Pikit and torched houses after villagers fled.

The attack came less than a week after MILF rebels took turns harassing farming communities in Pikit in attacks which the military claimed were aimed at intimidating villagers to shell out "protection money."

Luna said Army and Marine units in Pikit have since intensified their community patrols in the area and the surroundings of the Buliok complex, a former MILF stronghold that fell to government control last February. Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the MILF attack on the two farming communities in Barangay Kabasalan came just a day after soldiers discovered a cache of ammunition, including live mortar rounds and B-40 rockets used in the fabrication of home-made bombs in a forested area near Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao.

Senga said soldiers patrolling in Camp Abubakar stumbled on the explosives which were neatly hidden under the bushes and covered with camouflage mats.

Senga said Army investigators and intelligence agents are convinced that the bomb-making paraphernalia, consisting of improvised blasting devices, were to be used by the MILF in bombing civilian targets in Maguindanao and surrounding towns.

MILF rebels were quick to launch retaliations for the seizure of the explosives. Guerrillas armed with assault rifles and shoulder-fired M-79 grenades opened fire on Army detachments in Camp Abubakar, provoking brief firefights. There were no immediate reports of casualties or injuries.

Calls for peaceful solution

Administration Sen. Robert Barbers urged President Arroyo yesterday to stop military offensives against the MILF and resume the stalled peace talks.

At the same time, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said atrocities committed against civilians, whether perpetrated by rebels or law enforcement agents should be considered terrorist acts punishable by law.

Pimentel said he is filing a proposal seeking to copy the provisions of the US Patriot Act but will include state-sponsored terrorism.

"Senator Barbers, chairman of the Senate committee on public order, agree with me on the need for a tighter definition of terrorism under the counter-terrorism law now being deliberated by Congress," Pimentel said.

For his part, Barbers said Mrs. Arroyo should seriously consider the mounting calls to pursue peace talks with the rebels instead of calling for the military option.

"It is very clear that I am not alone in my stand that peace talks must be given another chance. Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Senator Pimentel, and the majority of Mindanao bloc solons in the House want to push for the resumption of serious peace talks," Barbers said. – With Mike Frialde, John Unson, Jose Rodel Clapano