2 Moro rebels killed, 3 soldiers hurt in clash

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Two suspected Moro separatist rebels were killed and three soldiers, including a junior officer, wounded in a gunbattle in Sirawai, Zamboanga del Norte the other day, the military said.

Col. Daniel Lucero, Armed Forces’ information chief, said a platoon of the Army’s 44th Infantry Battalion, was patrolling Sitio Lukungan in Barangay Panabutan when they were attacked by 20 men believed to be Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members.

The one-hour gunbattle that followed left two rebels dead and three soldiers — a junior officer and two enlisted personnel — wounded, Lucero said.

The soldiers managed to overrun a rebel encampment that could accommodate 80 people and seized hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Lucero said the rebel band was headed by Suyah Arasad alias Commander Puti Ulo, tagged as behind the May 4 attack on Siocon that left 32 people dead and extortion of teachers in the towns of Sirawai, Siocon, Sibuco and Baliguian.

The MILF is the Philippines’ main Muslim separatist force, which has been waging a 25-year rebellion in the south.

The government and the rebels had forged a ceasefire earlier this year and are set to resume formal peace negotiations in Malaysia in January.

It is not immediately clear whether the firefight would affect the talks.

Neighboring Malaysia is to send a six-member advance team of ceasefire monitors Monday to observe the truce. — Roel Pareño, AFP