MANILA (Reuters)
Philippine troops shelled Muslim rebel positions and raked them with helicopter fire overnight on the southern island of Jolo after a day of intense fighting in which at least 58 people, including 26 troops, were killed.
The fighting which broke out on Thursday morning is the heaviest in the volatile Philippine south for almost three years, but the military said it suspended operations at daybreak on Friday following a request from the provincial governor.
"We got a call from Governor Abdusakur Tan to suspend operations because of a Muslim holiday," said Major-General Ruben Rafael, the local military commander. "We have agreed."
The military said the rebels were from the Abu Sayyaf group, which is linked to al Qaeda, but the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim rebel group which signed a peace deal with the government in 1996, said its cadres were involved.
Local officials said Jolo had been tense because the military had begun collecting unlicensed firearms from villagers as a part of a wider drive in the Mindanao region.
Discontent has also been simmering among MNLF cadres because the government is close to signing a deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim secessionist group.
The MNLF says the government should first fulfill obligations due to it from the 1996 agreement.
A senior MNLF leader said he was worried the fighting could delay three-party talks between the rebel group, the Philippine government and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) that brokered the 1996 peace deal.
The talks are to be held in Indonesia later this month on implementing the 1996 deal and giving more funds to an autonomous Muslim region in the south of the country.
The islands of the southern Philippines, especially Jolo and Basilan, are hotbeds of extremism.
About 13,000 Philippine troops are on the islands to contain about 2,000 rebels. About 100 U.S. special forces are also on Jolo to help train the Philippine military but they are forbidden from fighting under Philippine law.
The MNLF fought the government for decades until the 1996 agreement. In late 2004, MNLF members fought with troops on Jolo demanding their leader Nur Misuari be freed from jail and scores were killed on both sides.
At least 60,000 people Jolo fled from their homes. The army has said about 100 rebels from the Abu Sayyaf and rogue factions of the MNLF were believed to be involved in the latest fighting.
The fighting started on Thursday when gunmen ambushed a group of soldiers when they were on their way to a market in Maimbung town to buy food, the military's Rafael said. Ten soldiers were killed and one was wounded.
In a gun battles later in the day, at least 16 soldiers and 31 rebels were killed, while 25 others were wounded. One boy was also killed in crossfire. |
