ZAMBOANGA CITY ? The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Western Mindanao said the military commander in Sulu was responsible for the Feb. 4 massacre in Maimbung town, where at least eight people ? including two children and a pregnant woman ? were killed.

?In a word of command, the ground troops follow, a lift of a finger from a commander, troops will run, march and attack,? Jose Manuel Mamauag, CHR director, said Thursday.

The CHR conducted an investigation of the massacre, which survivors said was perpetrated by soldiers.

Mamauag acknowledged that the soldiers should be punished for committing the atrocities against residents of Barangay Ipil but added that there is so-called command responsibility.

The raiding soldiers, who were also accused of pillaging the village, were under the Task Force Comet, headed by Maj. Gen. Reuben Rafael.

Mamauag said it was not fair to just blame soldiers, who were now being restricted to camp, ?because in the military, before the execution of any operation, there should be information, and plotting and mapping.?

He said military commanders are responsible for pre-operation preparations.

?So (the blame should go) higher,? Mamauag said.

He said the CHR will release a full report soon.

But one thing sure, Mamauag said, was that the Maimbung carnage was an example of a massacre committed in the pretext of ?a legitimate encounter.?

?Women, children and the elderly require utmost protection, they ought not to be considered as military targets,? he said.

The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said the findings of the CHR reinforced its earlier report that the eight victims were extrajudicially killed.

In a statement issued on Feb. 13, the AHRC said with the CHR findings, the government should now pursue the charges against those responsible for the killings.

?The families of the dead should also be given adequate compensation and those requiring protection in the process of prosecuting the case in court, once it is filed, are given such arrangement,? the group said.

A group claiming to represent more than 500,000 people and officials of Lanao del Sur renewed a call to scrap the holding of war games between the United States and the Philippines in the province.

The call came as American forces started to arrive in Jolo Thursday.

Lanao del Sur is one of the areas of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), where this year?s Balikatan will be held starting Sunday.

The Ranaw Crescent Against Balikatan Exercises (Racabe) warned that the people of Lanao del Sur would withdraw their support from President Macapagal-Arroyo if the exercises were held in the province.

?We are prepared to withdraw our support and we will show our indignation by holding a mass action on the day of the Balikatan,? the group said in a statement circulated Thursday.

Agakhan Mangondatu Sharief, head of the Racabe, said the withdrawal of support would make Ms Arroyo realize that Maranaos, as the people of the province are known, are serious in opposing the war games.

Lanao del Sur was one of the ARMM provinces which helped propel Ms Arroyo into the presidency in 2004.

?She will eventually lose our political patronage if she allowed the holding of the joint military exercise scheduled on Feb. 18,? Sharief said, adding that ?Racabe has the full backing of over 500,000 Maranao settlers, including those in the government.?