‘Selective bombardment’ kills 52 MILF men

PIKIT, North Cotabato — At least 52 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels and suspected members of the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang were killed in a 12-hour "selective bombardment" of guerrilla positions here and in Pagalungan, Maguindanao, the military said yesterday.

In the afternoon, President Arroyo ordered the military to cease the offensive against the Muslim separatists in the area, ostensibly in deference to the end of the Eid’l Adha, an Islamic feast marking the end of the Hajj or annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

Government troops, however, would remain in their positions, military officials said.

Military spokesman Army Maj. Julieto Ando said consolidated radio reports from different Army units carrying out the offensive indicated 52 MILF fighters and suspected Pentagon Gang members were killed during the gun battles.

Two of those killed were said to be foreign-trained, one identified only as "Fighter 1," a bomb expert who trained in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

"According to reports, a big number of the MILF and Pentagon’s fatalities were killed in the precise bombardment of their positions, plotted by our mathematicians with the help of evacuees and Muslim religious leaders in Pikit and Pagalungan," Ando said.

Ando, however, confirmed that two were killed in the government side and seven other servicemen wounded, two of them Marines.

Initial reports identified the dead as Army Pfc. Joseph Alferez and Sgt. Conchito Roslin.

Wounded were Capt. Neil Villanueva, 1Lt. Elmer Ocampo, Cpls. Morilo Castillon and Romeo de la Peña and Pfc. Guiamaludin Lucman. The two wounded Marines were identified as Pfc. Julamin Iningatan and Cpl. Dario Bajala.

Local officials in Pikit said among those wounded on the side of the MILF were followers of Ustadz Shamier, a sibling of MILF chieftain Hashim Salamat.

A brother of Pakil Ayunan, a notorious MILF commander who allegedly masterminded the killing of 16 Visayan settlers in Carmen, North Cotabato in 2000, was also killed after being shot by a sniper.

Thousands of soldiers attacked the Muslim guerrilla stronghold with artillery and tanks at dawn Tuesday, accusing the rebels of sheltering the Pentagon Group which is on the US terrorist list.

Ando said the fighting was concentrated in five villages around Pikit town on the border of North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces.

He said more than 50 rounds of 105-mm. Howitzer cannons hit about a dozen overhead MILF bunkers in Barangay Bulod and Kabasalan here, forcing the rebels to flee for safety but ending up as targets for advancing Army snipers.

Up to 20,000 villagers have sought shelter from the fighting in schools and other government buildings.

From an artillery base, the soldiers were seen firing cannon rounds every 30 minutes toward targets about 10-15 kilometers away. Sporadic gunfire and rocket-propelled grenade explosions reverberated through the area.

Army Col. Cardozo Luna said tanks were being used against the enemy scattered in the vast area as troops advanced into the rebel stronghold. Helicopter gunships fired rockets and aircraft dropped bombs on targets, said Ando.

The fighting came despite a shaky 1997 ceasefire and efforts to resume peace talks between the government and the Muslim guerrillas, who have been waging a separatist insurrection in southern Philippines since the 1970s.

Mrs. Arroyo last night directed Presidential Assistant in Mindanao Jesus Dureza, chairman of the government panel holding peace talks with the MILF, to proceed to Cotabato City to ensure the observance of the "temporary" ceasefire.

She also ordered Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and other Cabinet officials to assist in the needs of the relocated families in the area.

Mrs. Arroyo issued the directives after Armed Forces chief Gen. Dionisio Santiago reported out that the military has complied with the "suspension of hostilities" in Pikit as earlier ordered.

Dureza later told Palace reporters that the government peace panel would raise with their MILF counterparts the compliance of the Joint Communiqué of May last year in which the MILF leaders have agreed to help out in the arrest and capture of criminals in their area and turn them over to the authorities.

Santiago, for his part, said the military will not withdraw from their present positions in Pikit before the presidential directive to suspend the hostilities for the duration of the "observance of the Islamic holiday of Hajj."

"We would withdraw our troops but would remain where they stand before the ceasefire order was issued," Santiago said.

Santiago said they would not press the MILF to turn over suspected Pentagon Gang members. "We would just ask them to observe the ceasefire provisions," he said.

Despite Mrs. Arroyo’s call for an end to the offensive, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the rebels would not stop fighting unless the military pulled out of the area.

"Their proposal is just to stop fighting. The MILF command wants disengagement. They should go back to their original position," Kabalu told The Associated Press.

Kabalu also denied that the insurgents were sheltering Pentagon members. He accused the government of using the military to pressure the MILF into accepting a political package being prepared for peace talks in Malaysia. — With Marichu Villanueva, Mike Frialde