ZAMBOANGA CITY, 21 July 2004 — American soldiers participating in a live-fire exercise shot and wounded a 21-year Muslim man in the southern port city of Zamboanga, where US and Philippine forces are conducting joint anti-terror training.
The incident occurred June 21, but was only reported yesterday after a local radio network DXRZ-Radyo Agong broke the news. US officials were not available to make a statement, but the Southern Command said the man Naharon Alsid had attempted to cross the firing range despite earlier warnings by soldiers in the village of San Roque.
“It was accidental. The man tried to cross the firing range, but it was too late,” a spokesman of the Philippine Army, Maj. Bartolome Bacarro, told Arab News.
The radio network said Alsid was shot in the legs. The incident was apparently kept secret by US and Filipino officials, but Alsid’s relatives had tipped off the media about this.
The village is populated by civilians and many had already complained about the gun firing in the area and the danger the firing range pose to the residents. Many villagers had threatened to picket military camps where US troops are staying to protest the shooting.
Soldiers put up signs and warnings written in English and Filipino near the firing range to prevent civilians getting near the area.
“Alsid was accidentally wounded when he attempted to cross the firing range where AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and US security forces were conducting live fire familiarization exercise in line,” a Southern Command statement released on yesterday said.
It said Alsid was operated by American and Filipino medical personnel inside the tightly guarded Southern Command base in Zamboanga City. More than 3,000 US and RP troops also held similar trainings in Zamboanga City and Basilan Island in 2002, despite protests from militant groups.
US soldiers were also accused of harassing Filipino journalists covering the joint anti-terror training, dubbed as "Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines."
A group of drunken American troops, who participated in the training, had also rammed their jeep on a street lamp and destroyed a house and fled before police could arrive.
3 Kidnap Suspects Nabbed
Meanwhile, police forces killed 3 members of the dreaded Pentagon kidnap gang in a clash near a government checkpoint in General Santos City, west of Zamboanga, officials said.
The trio were allegedly planning to kidnap a Korean trader Kim Jin Song in Sarangani province, officials said.
The trio reportedly shot it out with policemen after a highway chase late Monday near the village of Buayan. The gunmen ignored warnings to stop and opened fire on the pursuing police forces, triggering a running gunbattle.
The trio were identified as Arnice dela Cruz, Ricky Liada and Sumaruh Tiago, believed to be the brother-in-law of gang leader Tahir Alonto. Another report said the police recovered press cards from the trio which they flash whenever they pass a government checkpoint in the provinces.
Police and military linked the Pentagon Gang to the series of kidnappings-for-ransom in the southern Philippines and among their victims were three Chinese engineers working on a government dam project in Carmen town in North Cotabato province.
The US listed the Pentagon Gang, whose members were mostly former separatist rebels, as a foreign terrorist organization alongside with the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
