Fresh fighting erupts in Jolo, over 100 killed<\/p>\n
Reuters, Jolo, Philippines<\/p>\n
Fresh fighting broke out on Jolo island in the southern
\nPhilippines on Wednesday as the death toll in an uprising by
\nguerrillas loyal to a rebellious Muslim governor rose to over
\n100, the military said.<\/p>\n
Military officials said they had used helicopter gunships and
\nWorld War II vintage bomber planes in strikes on guerrilla
\npositions and had sought the help of Malaysia to prevent Governor
\nNur Misuari from escaping there by sea.<\/p>\n
The navy threatened to sink any boat he tried to use.<\/p>\n
\"As per body count and reports from the field, the enemy
\nsuffered fatalities not lower than 100, most of them inflicted by
\nour air strikes,\" southern military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu
\ntold reporters.<\/p>\n
\"We know where their hideouts are and air strikes are
\ncontinuing on these hideouts,\" Cimatu said.<\/p>\n
Four soldiers and seven civilians have been killed while some
\n6,000 villagers have fled their homes.<\/p>\n
About 7,000 soldiers hunted Misuari's fighters, who attacked a
\nmajor army base and four other targets on Jolo on Monday as
\nPresident Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited the United States.<\/p>\n
Charges of rebellion -- a crime punishable by a maximum 40
\nyears in jail -- are to be filed on Thursday against Misuari and
\nhis followers, officials said.<\/p>\n
\"The government will not allow any renegade government
\nofficial to flout the law with impunity,\" Undersecretary of
\nJustice Jose Calida said.<\/p>\n
As chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF),
\nMisuari signed a peace agreement with the government in 1996
\nafter leading a revolt for an Islamic state in the south of the
\nmainly Roman Catholic country for 24 years.<\/p>\n
The military said the MNLF attacks were intended to prevent
\nregional elections on Monday to choose a successor to Misuari as
\ngovernor of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).<\/p>\n
Misuari is not contesting the election which he has denounced
\nas a violation of the peace accord.<\/p>\n
\"Fighting is continuing in three areas,\" Cimatu told the first
\ngroup of journalists to visit the embattled island since Monday's
\nattacks by between 500 to 800 MNLF gunmen.<\/p>\n
He said the skirmishes were taking place in Panamao, Patikul
\nand Indanan, all mountainous areas on the largely Muslim island
\nwhere Misuari has traditionally enjoyed local support.<\/p>\n
Military officials said they believed Misuari remained holed
\nup in a village on Jolo but they were checking reports he might
\nhave slipped out of the country and gone to Sabah in Malaysia, a
\nstate where hundreds of thousands of Filipino Muslims live.<\/p>\n
A separate report from villagers said Misuari had been wounded
\nin the air strikes but this was unconfirmed, Cimatu said.<\/p>\n
\"We are coordinating with Malaysian authorities in case
\nMisuari tries to seek refuge in Malaysia,\" armed forces chief
\nGeneral Diomedio Villanueva told reporters.<\/p>\n
A spokesman said the Philippine Navy had stepped up patrols to
\nstop Misuari fleeing. \"His boat will be sunk,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Manila set up the ARMM, a semi-autonomous area comprising four
\nimpoverished Muslim provinces, and installed Misuari as governor
\nafter the 1996 peace deal.<\/p>\n
The Arroyo administration is backing someone else for the
\nelection, accusing Misuari of mismanaging ARMM. Misuari says the
\nreason the region has remained poor is because Manila has failed
\nto release funds it had promised to develop the area.<\/p>\n
U.S. President George W. Bush said in Washington on Tuesday
\nafter talks with Arroyo that the United States would boost
\nmilitary and economic aid to the Philippines for its fight
\nagainst Muslim separatists, calling it an extension of the U.S.-
\nled war against terrorism.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement, Bush said the United States would
\nprovide nearly US$100 million in security assistance to help the
\nPhilippines combat the Abu Sayyaf, another Muslim guerrilla group
\nwhich operates in the southern Philippines.<\/p>\n
The local military has accused Misuari of entering into an
\nalliance with the Abu Sayyaf, which has been holding a U.S.
\nmissionary couple hostage for nearly six months on an island near
\nJolo. Washington has linked the Abu Sayyaf to Saudi-born militant
\nOsama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fresh-fighting-erupts-in-jolo-over-100-killed-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}