8 soldiers, 36 MILF rebs killed in Buldon clashes

Eight Army troopers and 36 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were killed in Buldon, Maguindanao in two days of fierce fighting last week, the bloodiest since the government and the separatist group forged a ceasefire last August.

Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta, Army spokesman, said the hostilities erupted last Sept. 27 when elements of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion responded to reports that some 100 heavily armed MILF guerrillas "penetrated military lines," occupied an area called "Sultan Base" in Barangay Minabay and set up ambush positions.

The rebels reportedly belonged to the 201st Brigade of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces’ National Guard Division, led by a certain Commander Taps Julhani.

Firefight ensued at about 8:50 a.m. Three soldiers were killed as the Army unit failed to dislodge the MILF guerrillas.

The Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade, led by Col. Antonio Romero, launched a counter-attack at about 6:50 a.m. the next day. They were backed by elements of the 3rd and 64th Infantry Battalions, and two MG-520 attack helicopters and two OB-10 "Bronco" bombers.

The choppers and planes pounded the area as government troopers closed in after the rebels refused to leave the area. Five more soldiers and four MILF rebels were killed.

Mabanta, however, quoted local officials and Muslim leaders in the area as saying that 32 rebels were killed during the aerial attack.

"It appears that we have been able to hit their assembly point, that’s why they sustained so many casualties," Mabanta said.

"The casualties were confirmed by various sources, including local leaders," he said.

Mabanta said Sultan Base is a former military artillery outpost that was vacated when hostilities between government and MILF forces ended late last year.

He said the rebels violated an agreement on the movement of armed units, adding that the area was declared off-limits to the MILF.

He said the military did not violate the ceasefire agreement and remains fully supportive of the peace process.

"We cannot just allow them to occupy areas because there is a peace negotiation and a ceasefire is in place," Mabanta said.

"We want this settled immediately because we are concerned. We want the peace process to succeed," he said.

MILF spokesman Ed Kabalu, however, denied their fighters penetrated military lines, saying the nearest Army outpost from the encounter site is 20 kilometers away.

Kabalu said Sultan Base is part of Camp Abubakar, the MILF’s main enclave which government forces overran in July last year. — With John Unson