Troops kill 5 MILF rebels harassing Maguindanao residents

COTABATO CITY – Troops killed five Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels foraging for food and extorting money from residents of a far-flung barangay in Maguindanao yesterday.

Two soldiers were wounded in the ensuing shootout in Datu Saudi town.

Two of the slain rebels were identified by residents as Tatoh Salman and Nasser Kamid.

Wounded were Sgt. Ronald Comejo and Pfc. Jessie Tejam of the Army’s 46th Infantry Battalion, according to Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, Army’s 6th Infantry Division spokesman.

The hostilities started after the MILF rebels, led by radical preacher Ustadz Wahid Tundok, opened fire on soldiers sent to verify the reported presence of armed men collecting food and money from residents in Barangay Tatapan in Datu Saudi town, according to local officials.

Local officials in the adjoining towns of Datu Piang and Guindulungan confirmed that five of Tundok’s followers were killed in the firefight, Ando said.

Tundok and his men retreated to a nearby marshland when Army reinforcements arrived and started pounding their positions with 81 mm mortars, he added.

Ando urged civilians in central Mindanao to be vigilant against more “foraging missions” by MILF rebels.

“They are in dire need of food and money so they have to embark on maneuvers needed for them to have food and money to help sustain the group of Ustadz Ameril Umbra Kato,” he said.

Kato carries a P10-million reward on his head for leading the raid in a dozen barangays in Cotabato province last year.

President Arroyo has ordered the Army to “neutralize” the MILF commanders that led the attacks on civilian communities in central Mindanao last year.

Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga, Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command chief, said three Army brigades based in the Lanao provinces have been tasked to get Abdurahman Macapaar alias Commander Bravo and Alim Pangalian.

“That’s primarily the goal,” he said.

Allaga said Mrs. Arroyo did not give a time frame for the neutralization of the three wanted MILF commanders.

Bravo and Pangalian continued to elude government troops because the MILF leadership is still supporting them, according to Maj. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, 1st Army “Tabak” Division commander.

Military secures power lines

The military has started securing power lines in Mindanao following the MILF attack in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte over the weekend that left the Zamboanga Peninsula in darkness for three days.

General Allaga said militiamen have been sent to guard the steel pylons and power transmission lines that were bombed.

The militiamen will secure the areas where the power lines are located and monitor the presence of the rebels, he added. – John Unson, Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude