Hundreds flee fighting in southern Philippines
Hundreds flee fighting in southern Philippines
COTABATO, Philippines (Agencies): Hundreds of families fled their homes in North Cotabato in the southern Philippines on Sunday as fresh fighting broke out between government forces and Muslim separatists, the military said.
Each side suffered one dead and several wounded in the clash, which began after Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels blockaded a five-km portion of a highway in North Cotabato, army and rebel spokesmen said.
Muslim separatists freed unharmed on Sunday some 100 people they took hostage after a pre-dawn raid on a southern Philippine Christian village, in the latest attack to mar formal peace negotiations.
About 200 MILF guerrillas stormed the village of Tibao in Mlang town North Cotabato province, killing a pro-government militiaman and wounding four others before taking hostage the villagers.
Five MILF guerrillas were also killed and seven were wounded in clashes in nearby municipalities as two major rebel camps came under heavy mortar fire from the military, military and rebel commanders said.
Town Mayor Luigi Cuerpo said the guerrillas herded the hostages into a Catholic church and the men were ordered to dig foxholes near a highway, where MILF forces had set up blockades to prevent government troops from advancing.
The guerrillas threatened to shoot the villagers if they fled, but allowed them to leave unharmed later, Cuerpo said.
MILF vice chairman for military affairs Al Haj Murad said the guerrillas had blockaded the highway to prevent the government reinforcing troops which had been attacking rebel camps since last week.
The two sides are due to begin formal talks on Dec. 13 on ending the 27-year separatist rebellion in the Mindanao region, 800 km south of Manila.
"If the fighting does not stop, it will delay the peace talks," Murad told Reuters by telephone.
An army spokesman accused the MILF of taking about 80 villagers, mostly Christians, hostage and herding them inside a chapel in Libao village during Sunday's fighting. Murad denied the accusation.
"What happened was that we told the civilians to stay inside the church to avoid being caught in the crossfire. We did not force them there, we did not even guard them," Murad said.
He said the rebels had occupied the highway for most of the day but withdrawn towards nightfall. He said he presumed the civilians holed up in the chapel had gone back to their homes.
Murad said the MILF had suffered six dead during the military attacks on their camps last week while the army put government casualties at two dead.
The MILF is fighting for an Islamic state in the southern part of the largely Roman Catholic country.