Philipino Villagers Fear Returning Home Because of Landmines

MILF terrorists may have fled for the surrounding hills but terror still remains. Philiphine villagers afraid of returning home because of fear of landmines left by terrorists. AFP

ALEOSAN, Philippines (AFP) — Thousands of villagers who fled their homes in the war-ravaged southern Philippines are not returning for fear of landmines and new attacks by Muslims rebels, officials said Wednesday.

Although Muslim guerrillas have retreated from villages they occupied last week in the province of North Cotabato, government soldiers are still meeting small pockets of resistance.

Scores of houses in mainly poor rural villages have been either burned to the ground or looted and crops destroyed by the retreating rebels.

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The military said that as the rebels retreated Tuesday and Wednesday they planted booby traps and landmines in deserted villages and roads.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels occupied the villages last week after the Supreme Court halted the signing of an agreement meant to pave the way for a political settlement to end its 30-year struggle for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines.

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MILF rebels began retreating back into the hills Tuesday after a prolonged military and police offensive involving helicopter gunships and artillery.

Bartolome said the rebels had planted booby traps in farms and villages as they retreated.