Filipino Air Force Bomb MILF

After MILF refused to leave Catholic villages it had occupied the Filipino Air Force bombed MILF strongholds. Ground Troops also attacked several MILF positions. The fighting has been intense. Inquirer

PIKIT, NORTH COTABATO—Philippine Air Force planes Sunday bombed suspected Moro rebel positions and ground troops pounded them with cannons and mortars after hundreds of guerrillas defied a government ultimatum to withdraw.

Eyewitness accounts put government casualties at three dead, while officials said one Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel was killed in the clashes that erupted mainly in North Cotabato province.

Armed Forces Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Cardozo Luna said fighting was taking place “eyeball-to-eyeball” in some areas and that the military and police were “prepared for a long drawn-out action,” Agence France-Presse reported.

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The government had given about 800 guerrillas until 10 a.m. on Friday to vacate several villages they had occupied supposedly in violation of a 2003 ceasefire.

Officials accused the rebels of burning houses, destroying farms, stealing cattle and driving tens of thousands of people from their homes.

The fresh conflict came at a crucial point in peace negotiations between the government and the MILF rebels, who have reached an agreement calling for the establishment of an independent Bangsamoro homeland.

The formal signing of the accord was stopped last week by the Supreme Court, acting on petitions filed by Christian politicians opposed to the inclusion of their areas in the proposed Muslim homeland.

On Saturday, the rebels were ordered by their leaders to pull back but later complained that their withdrawal was hampered by government troops and armed villagers in areas where they were to pass. The rebels said some had sporadically fired at them.