21 killed in clash between Philippine military, rebel group

Thirteen members of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and eight government troopers were killed in fresh fighting that started Sunday night in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao despite an existing cease-fire being observed in the area.

Military information chief Lt. Col. Buenavantura Pascual said on Monday that around 11 p.m. on Sunday, two detachments of government troops in the province were simultaneously harassed by 60 MILF rebels headed by local commanders Abdulwahid Tondok and Faizal.

Sketchy reports also indicate that three soldiers had been heldhostage by the rebel group and two other soldiers remain missing.

Military headquarters spokesperson Brig. Gen. Alexander Yano said that the MILF assaults were in retaliation to the military operations carried out in the town of Mamasapano on Jan. 7, resulting in the killing of two members of the Abu Sophia group, which compose of former MILF members who have resorted to kidnap-for-ransom activities.

"One of the Abu Sophia bandit killed--Bedis Binago--was a relative of Commander Tondok and they were avenging the killing," Yano told reporters in a press conference.

Yano, who also chairs the government's Coordination Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), expressed optimism that the peace negotiations, however, would not be affected by the latest incident.

"We feel that this will not affect (the peace talks) considering the action of Wahid and Faizal were independent actions, unilateral actions on their part.

This is not sanctioned by the hierarchy of the MILF," Yano said.

MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu admitted that it was the MILF who triggered the firefight, but he said the action did not have the go signal of the MILF leadership.

He said that once an investigation would be concluded by the CCCH, the MILF would implement its sanctions against the two localcommanders.

The Philippine government and the 12,000-strong MILF have been trying to forge peace deals since the Muslim secessionist group waged its movement 25 years ago, and they agreed to involve the international cease-fire monitor team on June 22, 2001.

There have been snags in the peace negotiations between the twopanels due to suspicions that the MILF was providing training venues for the regional terrorist group Jema'ah Islamiyah, affiliated with the al-Qaeda network behind the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

The latest postponement of peace talks was made after the firstbreach of a 13-month cease-fire by a clash between the two sides in Mindanao on Aug. 17, leaving three dead.

However, at the end of last year, the government and the MILF negotiation panels quietly agreed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to resume the stalled formal peace talks as soon as possible.

Source: Xinhua