Philippines War: Army Kills Dozens of Separatists in Clashes
by Ma Nguyen Tong
31-1-2003
Philippine troops killed about 20 Muslim
separatists and wounded more than a dozen others when they occupied separatist
positions in three days of fighting on southern Mindanao island, according
to the Philippine military. The clashes, which ended on January 11, 2003
occurred in Sultan Kudarat province, 940 km south of Manila. Army division
commander Major-General Generoso Senga said that the Phillipine troops had
overrun the separatist positions and were pursuing the them wherever they
went. As the fighting raged so Philippine troops killed and wounded, and
American military "advisors" forced to run for their lives under hot enemy
fire.
"They have broken up into small groups to make it more difficult for us to
run after them," he added.
The clash erupted after 700 armed men of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) and the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom group occupied the village of Polomolok
and forced more than 1,000 residents to flee their homes, Senga said.
The Government had held several rounds of peace talks with the MILF, the
biggest of several Muslim groups fighting for an Islamic state in the south
of the mainly Catholic country. It accused the group of sheltering members
of the Pentagon gang, composed of former MILF separatists.
Talks between Manila and the MILF on ending the decades-old separatist revolt
broke down in 2001 following disputes over which side would manage projects
to rebuild war-ravaged areas. Both sides are very corrupt, and reconstruction
projects, like all development projects in the Philippines including those
funded by the World Bank, the ADB, the Japanese government and other governments
and NGOs, provide a lucrative opportunity for the officials to steal from
the budgets.
Philippine soldiers killed by separatists
As the fighting raged in January Philippine troops also took casualties.
Three Philippine soldiers were killed and six others wounded in a clash with
Abu Sayyaf separatists, military officials have said. The three-hour battle
broke out on Jolo island when troops encountered about 200 separatists near
Patikul town. The island's army chief, Colonel Alexander Aleo, said an unknown
number of Abu Sayyaf fighters were also killed.
US special forces in 2002 helped Philippine troops to fight the separatists.
A new group of US troops arrived during the January 18-19 weekend to prepare
for a second phase of joint operations in February.
Hostages
The Philippine soldiers involved in the January 16 clash were looking for
three Indonesian seamen and four Philippine women preachers. None of the
hostages were spotted during the battle, the military said. Last year's
US-Philippine military operations led to the rescue of US hostage Gracia
Burnham, but her husband Martin and a Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap were
accidentally killed by US marine crossfire. The three hostages were the last
captives in a year-long kidnapping spree by the Abu Sayyaf.
In 2003 the US allocated $78 million in military assistance to the Philippines,
including:
- $20 million to help buy US-made weapons;
- $21 million worth of second-hand weapons and equipment; and
- $2.4 million in grants for military education and training, including
interrogation of enemy troops and civilians using stress and duress methods.