| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Six MNLF Fighters Captured in Clash in S. Philippines |
| 2007-01-22 |
| Followers of detained Muslim leader Nur Misuari ambushed a military convoy, wounding seven soldiers battling Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said yesterday. Six of the attackers, who are members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), had been captured by soldiers after a firefight that left one rebel dead, said Maj. Eugene Batara. The soldiers, onboard three trucks, were on their way to replace troops pursuing the Abu Sayyaf when the rebels ambushed them yesterday in the village of Langpas Saldang in Parang town, he said. “The captured rebels are undergoing interrogation,” Batara said. Other reports said the rebels ambushed the convoy to avenge the death of 10 gunmen in a clash with Marines in the village of Timpook, Patikul town, on Thursday. Officials said the rebels were earlier thought to be Abu Sayyaf militants, but were later confirmed to be MNLF fighters. Three soldiers were also slain in the fighting. Officials claimed the fighting broke out after soldiers caught up with a band of Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the village. Batara said they were checking the reports with the Philippine Marines. More troops had been sent to the troubled island to help flush out Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah militants. Security officials previously said that as many as six Indonesian militants are hiding in Jolo, including Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both key suspects in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 mostly foreigners. Jolo Island is also a stronghold of the MNLF, which signed a peace accord with Manila in September 1996. Some of them have been integrated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police. Some have reportedly joined either the Abu Sayyaf or the larger separatist group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but a substantial number have returned to the hills under the MNLF banner faction of Nur Misuari. Fighting had previously erupted between security and MNLF forces that left dozens of soldiers and dead the past years. |
| Posted by:Fred |