COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 24, 2013) – Sporadic fighting continued Tuesday in central Mindanao between government and rebel forces with reports of fresh explosion in Maguindanao’s Matanog town.
Two civilians – Philip Mutin, 62; and a six-year old child – were reportedly hit by shrapnel from a mortar projectile and had been rushed to hospital.
Fighting was also reported in North Cotabato’s Tulunan town.
“Reported heavy explosion at Barangay Bugasan Sur in Matanog town in Maguindanao at around 6:25 a.m. today. No report of casualty thus far,” according to an alert issued Tuesday by the Mindanao Human Rights Action Center which has been monitoring the situation in the region.
Army Lt. Col. Dickson Hermoso, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division, said the rebels were harassing troops in the area. “It was harassment,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Hermoso also said rebels took at least two dozen civilian hostages.
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters launched simultaneous attacks in Midsayap town in North Cotabato province on Monday and took at least two dozen people hostage and used them as shield against pursuing soldiers. The fighting spread to Maguindanao province.
But Abu Misry Mama, a rebel spokesman, strongly denied Hermoso’s claims and said rebel forces only secured the civilians and brought them to a safe area to protect them from the military assault. “No hostages were taken. They were moved to a safe area to protect them from the fighting,” he said.
Hermoso said three soldiers and four rebels have been killed in the fighting since Monday in North Cotabato province.
The Mindanao Human Rights Action Center said some 1,500 civilians were trapped in the village of Malingao in Midsayap town and took shelter in a school there.
“Trapped were approximately 1,500 individuals, including residents, teachers, and students. The residents ran to the school for safety because it is made of concrete, safer than their residential huts made of light materials,” it said.
It said a team of human rights workers, who were earlier deployed to the area, tried to approach the school during a lull in the fighting, but gunfire resumed before they could reach the compound and had to pull back because of the extreme danger.
“Per our grassroots monitors in the area, they have seen some of these trapped civilians coming out of the school and braving the crossfire to make a dash to nearby villages not affected by the fighting. The first batch they saw was around 20 persons, followed by 2 other batches in 6,” it said.
It said more than 1,800 families in five villages – Tugal, Nabalawag, Palungoguen, Malinap and Rangaban, have evacuated to safer areas.
The BIFF, headed by Ameril Umra Kato, split with the larger rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front under Murad Ebrahim, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila. Kato has opposed the peace talks between the Aquino government and the MILF, saying Ebrahim abandoned their bid for independence in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
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