ZAMBOANGA CITY, 18 April 2007 — Fighting between government forces and rogue Muslim rebels is spreading in the southern Philippines, shattering hopes for peace and threatening local support for a US-backed campaign to flush out militants.
Dozens of people were reported killed and injured in a series of mortar attacks by MNLF rebels and suspected Abu Sayyaf militants on the island.
Officials said the rebels attacked several military posts in the town of Panamao, Parang and Talipao. One mortar round exploded near a government building, killing a child and wounding another villager.
But the military said there could be more civilian casualties in the fighting that began last week.
Three government soldiers were killed and 53 others wounded in the fighting in Jolo, said Army Brig. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan. He said 17 MNLF rebels were allegedly killed and over 50 more wounded.
Nearly 8,500 families have fled the fighting and thousands crammed into schools and gymnasiums in downtown Jolo, relying on food rations from disaster agencies.
“I hope the two sides will come to their senses and stop this madness,” Parouk Hussin, MNLF foreign relations chairman, said. “This would definitely jeopardize all our efforts to restore peace on Jolo and put to waste the gains of the peace process.”
Govt Rejects OIC Call for Halt in Fighting
The government has formally rejected a call by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) for a cease-fire in Sulu province, as the military claimed Abu Sayyaf has joined forces with men of a Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) commander being pursued by troops.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, in a communiqué to OIC secretary general yesterday, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, also refused the OIC’s proposal to field military monitors to observe the truce.
On the other hand, Ihsanoglu, called on OIC members with close ties to either parties “to use their influence” and cause the immediate end of the ongoing hostilities.
Romulo explained that military operations against Ustadz Habier Malik and his group do not constitute a violation of the peace agreement with the MNLF peace agreement but are “punitive action...for their acts of violence and violation of internal laws,” and “not as a member of the MNLF.”
