Bad weather halts Zamboanga clearing operations

MANILA, Philippines—Clearing operations in strife-torn Zamboanga City were suspended due to bad weather in the city, a Philippine National Police official said Monday.

“For the meantime, the Task Group Suyud temporarily suspended the conduct of clearing operations since Friday afternoon up to today (Monday) because of the inclement weather,” Police Chief Inspector Ariel Tolorio Huesca, Region IX police spokesman, said.

Huesca said since the first day of Phase 2 clearing operations, authorities were able to recover 280 various unexploded ordnance (rifle grenade, hand grenade and 40 mm rounds used in grenade launcher) and eleven assorted firearms.

The police regional office’s crime laboratory also recovered and processed 156 cadavers, of which 146 were Moro National Liberation Front rebels.

Of these recovered bodies, 10 were civilians, and three were female rebels.

Huesca added that 45 other bodies were also recovered, 35 of which were already in the state of decomposition.