Filipinos flee south as clashes escalate
Source: Agencies |
October 26, 2011, Wednesday
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FILIPINOS flee south as clashes escalate
More than 16,000 people have fled from four southern Philippine towns where government troops have been battling Muslim guerrillas and outlaws in clashes that are endangering already-shaky peace talks and a years-long truce.
Attempts by Philippine authorities to arrest several current and former commanders of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front and allied gunmen accused of kidnappings for ransom and other crimes sparked separate deadly clashes last week in Zamboanga Sibugay Province and on Basilan Island.
The Moro group has been waging a bloody fight for self-rule in southern Mindanao region, homeland of minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines. A truce has held since 2008.
The 120,000-strong military suffered one of its biggest losses in years in Basilan last week when troops tried to capture a fugitive rebel commander and other outlaws, igniting daylong fighting that killed 19 soldiers.
Fearing more clashes, nearly 6,000 villagers have fled from Al-Barka and outlying towns in Basilan, a predominantly Muslim province about 880 kilometers south of Manila, Office of Civil Defense Administrator Benito Ramos said.
In Zamboanga Sibugay, also in the south, about 10,800 villagers have fled to safety from three towns, including in coastal Payao, where air force OV-10 bomber planes, naval gunboats and about 700 army troops and police have been trying to flush out more than 120 former Muslim rebels and bandits encamped in a hilly forest, officials said.
Zamboanga Sibugay police chief Ruben Cariaga said military aircraft staged bombing runs for a second day yesterday in Payao. Troops assaulted the bandits after OV-10 planes dropped bombs on their lair on Monday but were met by heavy machine-gun fire that killed two soldiers, he said.
More than 16,000 people have fled from four southern Philippine towns where government troops have been battling Muslim guerrillas and outlaws in clashes that are endangering already-shaky peace talks and a years-long truce.
Attempts by Philippine authorities to arrest several current and former commanders of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front and allied gunmen accused of kidnappings for ransom and other crimes sparked separate deadly clashes last week in Zamboanga Sibugay Province and on Basilan Island.
The Moro group has been waging a bloody fight for self-rule in southern Mindanao region, homeland of minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines. A truce has held since 2008.
The 120,000-strong military suffered one of its biggest losses in years in Basilan last week when troops tried to capture a fugitive rebel commander and other outlaws, igniting daylong fighting that killed 19 soldiers.
Fearing more clashes, nearly 6,000 villagers have fled from Al-Barka and outlying towns in Basilan, a predominantly Muslim province about 880 kilometers south of Manila, Office of Civil Defense Administrator Benito Ramos said.
In Zamboanga Sibugay, also in the south, about 10,800 villagers have fled to safety from three towns, including in coastal Payao, where air force OV-10 bomber planes, naval gunboats and about 700 army troops and police have been trying to flush out more than 120 former Muslim rebels and bandits encamped in a hilly forest, officials said.
Zamboanga Sibugay police chief Ruben Cariaga said military aircraft staged bombing runs for a second day yesterday in Payao. Troops assaulted the bandits after OV-10 planes dropped bombs on their lair on Monday but were met by heavy machine-gun fire that killed two soldiers, he said.
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