4 Moro rebels die in clash

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Four Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels were killed in a clash with soldiers in Lanao del Sur last Saturday, the military said.

The Moro guerrillas attacked a remote farming village and engaged responding Army soldiers in a gunbattle, Capt. Noel De—toyato, spokesman of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command, said.

"Troops in the village repulsed the attack and engaged the rebels in a running gunbattle," Detoyato said. "Four MILF renegades were slain in the firefight."

A pursuit operation has been launched, with the rebels heading toward a thickly forested hinterland area, he said.

The 12,500-strong MILF is the country’s main insurgent group currently negotiating a peace deal with the Arroyo administration, but security experts have linked them to Indonesian terror suspect Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi now in detention in Manila.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied the accusation, saying it was "part of a grand design to have us labeled as terrorists."

Retaliation

In Maguindanao, meanwhile, the military is girding for retaliatory attacks by MILF guerrillas after it gained control of their three new enclaves in Mamasapano and Shariff Aguak towns.

Combatants of the 6th Infantry Division overran the rebel territories where more than a dozen MILF guerrillas responsible for last week’s burning of a government-owned bulldozer in Barangay Iganagampong, Sha—riff Aguak had sought refuge.

Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan said the four-day military offensive against MILF positions in Shariff Aguak and Ma—masapano were only carried out after the rebels ignored initiatives of local officials and religious leaders for the arsonists to give themselves up.

Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko, 6th ID’s commanding general, said they have started gearing up for possible escalation of rebel attacks on ongoing rehabilitation projects in Central Mindanao. — John Unson