3 killed in clash between Moro rebels and gov’t militamen

COTABATO CITY—After more than a year of zero hostilities, a firefight broke out between Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas and government organized paramilitary troops allegedly backed by fighters of the Moro National Liberation Front in North Cotabato on Thursday afternoon, leaving at least three persons dead, the military reported Friday.

Capt. Tony Bulao, spokesperson of the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade, said three people, including a member of the local community watch, were killed in the clashes that took place in the villages of Tonganon and Tupig in the municipality of Carmen.

Earlier, he reported that a militiaman was wounded, but in his latest advisory, Bulao said the militiaman was actually killed. The bodies of the dead were still in an area controlled by MILF forces, headed by Commanders Karim and Tarzan, Bulao said. It was not immediately known who the two other fatalities were.

He said in a statement that the battle started after a group of MILF rebels led by Commander Karim of the 110th Base Command put up a road blockade and prevented farmers from bringing their produce to the town center.

Bulao said Karim and a Commander Tarzan were  irked by the farmers’ refusal to give “zakat (alms)” to the local MILF unit because they were already giving the same to the Moro National Liberation Front group in the area.

He said members of the local community watch, backed by MNLF men, tried to drive the rebels away, triggering the fighting.

Von Al-Haq, spokesperson of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, said they were now investigating the incident, which came in the wake of the signing of a peace agreement between the government and the MILF.

“We will not tolerate anyone if they will be proven guilty. Aside from the investigation of the joint ceasefire mechanism, the MILF would also conduct an internal probe,” Al-Haq said by phone.

Bulao said the military saw the incident as an isolated one and did not believe it would affect the peace process.

“Karim and Tarzan were acting on their own and not as an organization,” he said. Edwin Fernandez