The military yesterday said it would allow the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to remove their fighters who have been âtrappedâ in fighting between government troops and members of the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang in the southern Philippines. âWe have already talked this out with the MILF and the arrangement is for them to extract their members through our lines,â Gen. Narciso Abaya, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, told reporters in Manila. Abaya said, however, that the MILF members âmust identify their comrades to avoid giving the kidnappers a chance to escape.â
| I'll bet it galls MILF to throw the Pentagon thugs to the wolves. All that money â gone! |
At least 12 people have been reported killed in three days of fighting in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometers south of Manila. Brig. Gen. Agustin Demaala, the army commander in the area, said fighting broke out on Saturday when government troops attacked suspected kidnappers in the jungles of Maguindanao. He said members of the MILF, which has a cease-fire agreement with the government, were dragged into the clash when the kidnappers sought refuge in their strongholds in the towns of Datu Piang and Talitay, he said.
| The MILFies didn't tell them to piss off, either... |
Demaala said soldiers recovered the bodies of 10 suspected Pentagon kidnap gang members, while the MILF still holds the bodies of a soldier and government militiaman killed in the fighting. The Pentagon gang â notorious for kidnappings and on the US terror list â is believed to be holding car trader Norman Sia, 24, kidnapped last week by men posing as customers. The fighting has triggered fears that efforts to resume stalled formal peace talks with the MILF would be hampered. Eid Kabalu stressed the rebel group did not provide sanctuary to the kidnappers. âWe donât shield kidnappers,â he said. âWe have a standing agreement with the government not to provide refuge to lawless elements.â MILF Vice Chairman Ghazali Jaafar admitted the area is an MILF stronghold but denied they were providing sanctuary to the Pentagon gang, or that MILF guerrillas helped in their fight. |