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Philippine troops capture rebel bases
Philippine troops have occupied Tuesday two Muslim terrorist rebel encampments used as a base for attacks on military and civilian targets in a remote area of the province of Maguindanao.

Officials said ground forces, backed by helicopter gunships, attacked the bases used by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement in the town of Datu Hoffer and forced the terrorists rebels to abandon their camps.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, but a statement from the 6th Infantry Division said the bases were former villages of indigenous tribe called Teduray who were forced out of their communities by terrorists rebels.

The statement said the bases called Hill 714 and Hill 166 were also used by rebels to train child warriors. It said, "Those Hills were formerly Tedurays community. Later was turned into training venues for child warriors and used then as the staging point for the BIFF rebels in planning their atrocities against soldiers and civilians in nearby communities."

It said security forces have secured the area and that troops were searching for booby traps and bombs.

The terrorists rebels attacked various military detachments last week in retaliation to the killing of a BIFM member supposedly by government soldiers, an allegation strongly denied by army spokesman Col. Prudencio Asto. He said, "That’s not true. The BIFM launched the attacks to disrupt ongpoing peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front."

The BIFM was established by Ameril Umra Kato, a senior leader of the MILF who broke from the terrorist rebel group, to pursue an independent Islamic state in the south.

Terrorist Rebel spokesman Abu Misri Mama said they were simply defending themselves from military assaults. In a clandestine interview, he said, “We did not start the fighting. It was the military and soldiers were also behind the burning of many houses and attacks on civilians."
Posted by: ryuge 2012-08-15
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=350219