PAF bombs Moro rebels

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The Armed Forces of the Philippines mounted an air and ground assault on a suspected position of a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) following a series of rebel attacks that left at least 33 people dead, the military announced.

In the first Philippine Air Force (PAF) strikes ordered by the Aquino administration following widespread indignation at the massacre of 19 soldiers last week in Basilan, two OV-10 attack planes bombed a remote village on the edge of Payao town in Zamboanga Sibugay.

“The bombing attacks began at 11:30 a.m. today,” Maj. Harold Cabunoc told reporters. “About 100 heavily armed bandits are holed up in their bunkers and running trenches.”

There were no immediate reports of casualties, but the military said about 3,000 civilians had already fled the area last week.

He said a combined contingent of 200 police and military commandos on the ground were also involved in the operation.

The regional military spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, said the gunmen targeted by the air strikes were rogue MILF rebels who were involved in kidnapping and other criminal activities.

The air strikes were the first against the MILF since 2008, when the military also used aircraft to bombard followers of two rebel commanders who had launched deadly raids across Mindanao that left about 400 dead, Cabangbang said.

“This is the first time since 2008, but I would like to stress the (rebels) we are after are operating outside the control of the MILF leadership,” he told Agence France-Presse.

The same group of rebels was blamed for ambushes that killed four soldiers and four policemen on Thursday.

Those rebel attacks came just two days after 19 Special Forces members were gunned down by MILF fighters after they strayed into rebel territory in Al-Barka on Basilan Island.

Five rubber plantation workers and two soldiers were killed in separate attacks on Sunday, while 200 rebels also occupied two elementary schools in remote farming villages, stealing cattle and harassing residents.

‘Lawless elements’

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr.  said in a press briefing Monday night in Camp Aguinaldo that an operation in Basilan was targeting “lawless elements,” avoiding mentioning the MILF which has assumed responsibility for the ambush in Al-Barka.

“We have crafted a deliberate and calibrated response, we just have to couple this with good intelligence work,” said Oban who faced reporters for the first time since the ambush.

But he reiterated that the military would uphold the ceasefire agreement with the MILF, which required the government to “coordinate” any armed operation in recognized MILF camps.

When asked if troops would pursue the targets inside the MILF “area of temporary stay” in Al-Barka, Oban replied: “As long as they are lawless elements, we will pursue them wherever they are.”

“The pursuit is a clear directive of the President. We were given an instruction to pursue lawless elements. That is the directive. We have to give appropriate resources towards that end,” he said.

MILF hits operation

MILF spokesperson Von Al Haq denounced the military operations as a violation of the ceasefire agreement.

“There are hard-headed people inside the military. With this new action, they are making the situation worse,” he said, adding that innocent people were put at risk.

He insisted that any move against MILF forces facing criminal cases should be directed to the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities.

The air strikes happened as the International Monitoring Team and other peace groups were on their way to Zamboanga Sibugay to investigate the weekend incidents, according to Al Haq.

Lieutenant General Raymundo Ferrer, head of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said in a statement the military and police would continue joint operations in Zamboanga Sibugay against the MILF faction of  Waning Abdulsalam, which was blamed for the killings of eight soldiers and policemen.

Ferrer said Abdulsalam “should be brought to justice for all the past kidnappings and extortions done by him and his group. The clamor of the people from Zamboanga Sibugay is to end Abdulsalam’s notoriety,” said the Westmincom chief.

4,000 flee homes

The attacks in Zamboanga Sibugay happened just two days after the 19 soldiers were killed in Al-Barka town in Basilan province. The troops were in Al-Barka to arrest a local MILF commander, Dan Ansawi, when they clashed with rebel forces.

Officials said some 1,200 families, or at least 4,000 individuals, had fled their homes in Al-Barka. Basilan Vice Governor Al Rasheed Sakalahul led the distribution of relief supplies to the evacuees sheltering with their relatives or scattered on roadsides.

Taha Katoh, the chairman of Tumahubong Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development Cooperative Inc., said Abu Sayyaf bandits, not MILF troops, ambushed and killed five of its workers on Sunday after extortion demands of P50,000 monthly were ignored.

During the meeting of the government-MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) on Saturday in Davao City, the military demanded that the MILF surrender a commander, Laksaw-Dan Asnawi, and five of his men who led the ambush in Al-Barka.

The military also demanded that the MILF surrender Abu Sayyaf leaders Furuji Indama and Long Malat who were believed to be in the MILF’s custody and who were also involved in the ambush in Al-Barka.

The military also demanded that the MILF turn over Abdulsalam, a notorious kidnap gang leader who is the target of the ongoing military offensives in Zamboanga Sibugay, and Putot Jakaria and Ogis Jakaria who have pending murder cases.

Peace mechanism

In an interview, Brigadier General Ariel Bernardo, head of the government panel in the CCCH, said the military would coordinate with their counterparts and continue to respect the peace negotiations.

“They are amenable to using the peace mechanism,” Bernardo replied when asked for the MILF’s reaction. When asked what the military would do if the MILF would refuse to comply, he said: “Let’s not speculate because these things are under the joint agreement.”

“We will not go in there unilaterally… The target has to be clearly identified. You cannot wage war with everyone. We’ll be guided by the AHJAG teams,” Bernardo said.

Colonel Arnulfo Burgos, the AFP spokesperson, said the military wanted the MILF to turn over the wanted rebels “as soon as possible, otherwise the military will pursue them within the framework of the peace mechanism.”

Vice President Jejomar Binay said the government should review the ceasefire agreement to ensure that those behind last week’s attacks were brought to justice.

“What I can tell you is that there will be a lot more action coming from the President,” he said.

Senator Gregorio Honasan said hot pursuit should be raised as part of the government’s “automatic procedural response” against perpetrators of attacks.

“Let’s not view this in the context of the peace negotiations. (The massacre) was a violation of the ceasefire,” he said.  With reports from AFP; Julie S. Alipala and Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao; and Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Philip C. Tubeza and Cathy Yamsuan in Manila