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| Southeast Asia |
| Manila claims 20 ‘Muslim rebels' killed in fresh fighting |
| 2002-10-13 |
| The Philippine armed forces claimed today that its troops have killed 20 "Muslim rebels", as fighting raged for the second day on Sunday in the southern Muslim heartland. The latest operation was launched after another guerrilla group killed 11 soldiers and wounded 26 others in a separate clash on Jolo island, off Mindanao. The military said it carried out air-and-ground offensive on Saturday on a rebel camp in Lanao del Sur province on the main southern island of Mindanao. It however did not specify who the rebels were, whether they are the communist guerillas, the kidnap-for-ransom Abu Sayyaf group, the Moro National Liberation Front or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, both of whose members have been fighting for independence for the southern Muslim-majority heartlands. Does it matter which ones they are? If they're trying to tear off a piece of the country for their own little Islamic paradise, they've got to be dealt with. "As of this morning, about 20 rebels were killed and several others wounded in the first wave of ground assault (in Lanao del Sur),", armed forces chief General Benjamin Defensor said, adding that he would "destroy any armed group who will undermine government efforts to bring peace and development in Mindanao". 'Bout time they adopted that attitude. If you're afraid of them, they'll attack you the harder. It's a lesson Bush has learned, and Australia might have learned this weekend... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |