Six MILF rebels killed in fresh Mindanao clashes

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Six Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas were killed while an undetermined number of rebels and a soldier were wounded in renewed clashes between the rebels and government troops in Mlang town, North Cotabato, the military reported yesterday.

The military said troops from the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion were on combat patrol when they encountered 40 heavily armed MILF rebels led by Commander Wahid Basing in Barangay Budingan in Mlang.

Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) chief Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko said the encounter triggered a one-hour firefight in which six of the rebels were killed Monday.

Kyamco said the rebels fled taking with them their wounded comrades.

He said the offensive will still continue even after President Arroyo declared victory last Monday in the war against the "embedded terror cells."

The MILF has been blamed for the spate of bomb attacks which left over 100 people dead since February.

The military earlier reported they had killed 77 rebels, wounded 14 of them while 97 have surrendered. Two ranking MILF leaders were captured as government forces sustained their "selective bombings and punitive offensive" against the rebels since May 17.

Maj. Gen. Cristolito Balaoing, 4th Infantry Division commander, said the MILF also suffered casualties after government forces attacked their positions in Poona Piagapo town in Lanao del Norte yesterday.

Balaoing said troops in pursuit operations surprised more than a hundred rebels led by Abdurahman Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, who were positioned in Barangay Tanglaw.

Macapaar was one of the MILF commanders who led the bloody attack of Maigo and Kolambugan towns in Lanao del Norte last April 24.

The rebels tried to fight off the attacking government forces but "fell one after another," said Col. Armando Cunanan, commanding officer of the Army’s Task Force Diamond IV leading the operation against the guerrillas.

Pursuing soldiers later caught up with the retreating guerrillas who sought shelter in a shallow cave near a ravine in Barangay Tanglaw, Cunanan said.

"We still cannot determine the number of rebels killed, but my men are certain they have inflicted considerable loss on the enemy side," Balaoing added.

No terror cells in communities

Armed Forces vice chief of staff and spokesman Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia clarified that the identified terror cells being targeted by the military are "not embedded" in civilian communities.

At the same time, Garcia reported that there have been no civilian casualties since the punitive attacks against the rebels began May 17.

"I’m very glad to say that there were no killed nor wounded civilians since the punitive operation (was launched) on May 17," Garcia said in an interview with ANC’s Talkback program Monday night.

But the military successes were overshadowed by reported deaths of civilians in evacuation centers.

Garcia, for his part, downplayed concerns of major civilian casualties in the Lanao provinces where the offensives are being launched against rebel positions.

He clarified that the terrorist cells are "not embedded in the communities" of Munai, Lanao del Norte but admitted MILF camps are "within the area."

But Garcia stressed that their "highly selective operations" were not intended to "attack the MILF as an organization."

"Highly selective operations which are punitive in nature is only happening in the Lanao del Norte and Zamboanga del Norte areas where we are directing pinpointed operations against those that have pillaged and ravaged our civilian communities," Garcia said.

"It is different from a widescale or all-out war that many have equated these operations to be. It is just not that," he added.

Garcia said Commanders Bravo and Yahyah Lucsadatu are now "on the run" from military operations in the Lanao provinces where both rebel leaders are believed to be holed up. – With Bong Fabe, Ann Corvera