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2022-11-10 Southeast Asia
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Fierce fighting breaks out between Philippine Army, MILF forces
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[BenarNews] Deadly fighting has broken out in the southern Philippines between government forces and members of a former Moslem guerrilla group that signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014, officials said Wednesday.
Multiple fatalities and injuries were reported on both sides in fierce festivities between military personnel and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front group that began on Basilan
...Basilan is a rugged, jungle-covered island in the southern Philippines. It is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, bandidos, and maybe even orcs. Most people with any sense travel with armed escorts...
island Tuesday and were still going on Wednesday, according to officials.
Continued from Page 1
The fighting, the first major clash between government forces and MILF members since January 2015, erupted as an army unit was pursuing suspected bombers from a "lawless group," military officials said.
"As of now sporadic firing continues and our troops are on the defensive while the MILF are attacking," Brig. Gen. Domingo Gobway, commander of the military’s Joint Task Force Basilan, told news hounds late Wednesday.
According to the latest information, at least three soldiers were killed and at least five others were maimed on the government side. A source close to the former rebel group told BenarNews that at least 10 fighters from MILF and runaway snuffies had been killed.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front controls an autonomous Moslem region in the southern Philippines. Eight years ago, the guerrilla group signed a peace accord with the government that ended decades of fighting.
Mohagher Iqbal, an official with the transitional government of the autonomous region and formerly MILF’s chief negotiator, said the group’s leadership had told its men to stand down.
"It’s not good for the grinding of the peace processor," Iqbal said, referring to the reports of fighting in Basilan. "We have a standing order to our men on the ground to cease firing their guns. Our ceasefire team will be heading to Basilan tomorrow to investigate."
"Our men were trapped in the area. It’s not a camp but a community. In conflict, we cannot say who pulled the trigger first," he added.
On paper the MILF has ceased to be a rebel group, with some of its members having applied to join the government’s military and police forces. While the MILF has agreed to order its members to turn in and decommission their firearms, officials and analysts have warned that many guns remain in the hands of former fighters in the field.
Gobway said soldiers were pursuing a group of gunnies, who were wanted for double bombings that maimed two civilians in the lovely provincial capital in May, when MILF forces requested permission to enter the area.
Lt. Col. Ferdinand Lazo, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Battalion, was instructed to speak with the MILF personnel,who were told that they could only enter the village if they disarmed themselves, Gobway said. But when Lazo reached the area, he was surprised to find the MILF forces already on site.
"Tension broke out. Eventually, they [the MILF personnel] sniped [at] the escort of the battalion commander. Fortunately, he was wearing Kevlar [protective equipment]. That’s when the fighting broke out, it's continuing until now," the Basilan joint task force commander said.
Apparently, the MILF personnel were protecting the "lawless elements" whom the government soldiers were chasing, Gobway said, adding that the fighting was fierce and the enemy side consisted of no fewer than 100 men.
"The problem is they [the enemy] are attacking. Actually, the military is on a defensive [stance]," he said.
Subway added that the military had asked ceasefire officials with the More Islamic Liberation Front to tell MILF commanders on the ground "not to reinforce, stay put, and stop attacking, and if possible leave" the area.
"We cannot withdraw, we are from the government," Gobway said.
Late in the day on Wednesday, the military reported that three soldiers were killed and a junior officer was maimed when their unit came under fire during an afternoon mission to resupply government troops engaged in fighting the MILF forces in Barangay Ulitan.
"They were just out there to provide resupply but were ambushed," said Lt. Col. Abdurasad Sirajan, a public information officer with the military’s Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom).
Earlier this year, a Malaysian-led international peace monitoring organization, known as the International Monitoring Team and tasked with safeguarding a ceasefire agreement between the Philippine government and former MILF guerrillas, ended its mission in the south after then-President Rodrigo Duterte decided that their presence was no longer needed.
In January 2015, the fragile peace between the Philippine central government and the MILF was severely tested when police commandos became caught up in a firefight with members of the ex-guerrilla group, after a raid where the government forces hunted down and killed Zulkifli bin Hir (alias Marwan), a Malaysian terror suspect who was hiding in the southern Philippines.
In the botched operation, 44 members of the police’s Special Action Force were killed in the ensuing gunbattle with MILF in Mamasapano, a town in Maguindanao del Sur province.
"We need the IMT back. In times like these, their presence is needed," Mohagher Iqbal said. 
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