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Villagers flee homes to escape fighting
More villagers evacuated their homes yesterday to escape fresh fighting between government troops and Muslim separatists on the main southern Philippine island of Mindanao, officials said. About 350 families, or some 1,750 people, have fled Polomolok village in Sultan Kudarat province and Tulunan town in the adjacent North Cotabato province, where government artillery and helicopter gunships have been pounding armed guerilla deployments since Thursday, said regional army spokesman Major Julieto Ando. The shelling continued on Friday and government ground forces had encountered stiff resistance as they approached Polomolok, Major Ando said. Quoting villagers, he added that six guerillas had been killed and 17 wounded. The gunmen are believed to be members of a notorious kidnap gang that has allegedly sought refuge in an area occupied by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.That would be the Pentagon Gang. Since MILF has a "cease-fire" with the gummint, when Milfies want to shoot somebody up, or pick up a few bucks with a kidnapping for ransom, they become Pentagon members for a few days. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-01-12 |
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