18 dead as breakaway rebels attack

COTABATO—An escalation of fighting between the Army and a breakaway Moro rebel group in the provinces of Maguindanao and North Cotabato killed 18 people in a single day of violence, the military said on Tuesday.

Seventeen members of the rebel Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and one soldier were slain in the daylong violence on Monday in two provinces, said Brig. Gen. Eduardo Pangilinan, the area’s military commander.

“One of our soldiers was killed during the (initial) attack. The 17 enemies were killed when our troops fired back and during the subsequent encounters,” the general told reporters.

There was a lull in the fighting on Tuesday, but the military remained on alert, with helicopter gunships flying overhead and armored vehicles parked on the streets of Cotabato City, a trading center in the area.

“There have been no additional encounters, but we are continuing our operations on the ground,” Pangilinan said.

Fighting began in the early hours of Monday morning as BIFF guerrillas attacked military outposts in the violence-scarred province of Maguindanao.

The violence later spread to the neighboring province of North Cotabato before the rebels pulled back, Pangilinan said.

BIFF spokesperson Abu Misry Mama disputed the military’s version of events, saying only four of his fighters had been killed.

“Only four have died. We would never lie about our casualties because it is an honor to die as a mujahideen,” he said.

He said the BIFF had launched the attacks in retaliation for the military’s abduction of a Muslim father and son on July 3.

The military has previously denied his accusation, branding this as propaganda.

Regional social welfare agencies said at least nine civilians were wounded and over 300 families had been forced to flee due to the new fighting.

The BIFF split from the main Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in 2008.

The 10,000-strong MILF has entered into a ceasefire and peace talks with the government for the creation of a new autonomous region for Muslim-dominated areas in the south of this largely Christian nation.

However, the BIFF, which is believed to have just a few hundred fighters, has rejected the negotiations and still demands a separate Islamic state in Mindanao.

It has previously launched attacks in Mindanao in efforts to disrupt the peace efforts.

Various Muslim armed groups, including the MILF, have waged a rebellion in Mindanao since the 1970s, aimed at winning independence or autonomy for the country’s Muslim minority in Mindanao, which they regard as their ancestral homeland.

About 150,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict.

Nongovernment organization Mindanao Human Rights Action Center (Minhrac) said it got reports of 10 civilians wounded in howitzer explosions, including an unidentified victim in the village of Ganta, in Shariff Saidona town.

Bobby Benito, Minhrac director, also reported displacement of residents from the towns of Shariff Saidona and Datu Piang. Reports from AFP and Jeoffrey Maitem, Karlos Manlupig, Edwin Fernandez and Williamor Magbanua, Inquirer Mindanao