ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 11, 2013) – Fresh skirmishes erupted on Wednesday between security and rebel forces as fighting spread near downtown Zamboanga in southern Philippines.
Police forces pursued and fired on Moro National Liberation rebels who managed to sneak at a neighborhood near Ciudad Medical along Mayor Vitaliano Agan Avenue, just a kilometer away from the village of Santa Catalina where troops also assaulted rebel positions.
The fighting triggered an exodus of civilians. Some 13,000 people have fled their homes since the skirmishes began on September 9 following the landing of rebels in coastal villages.
Rebels have fired rocket-propelled grenades and mortar projectiles indiscriminately on positions occupied by government forces. Two projectiles hit the open-air Catholic shrine Fort Pilar where soldiers took positions.
Sporadic clashes were reported in various areas and all dangerously near downtown Zamboanga where the heavily-guarded City Hall is located. Rebels also torched civilian houses in Santa Barbara to delay the advancing soldiers.
Several people have been shot and wounded. One pro-government militia was killed when soldiers attacked him after being mistaken as one of the rebels.
The rebels, who are loyal follower of Nur Misuari, took more than 100 people and use them as shield against security forces, but Mayor Maria Isabelle Salazar said the MNLF freed 9 hostages, including four children, in exchange for food. She said government negotiations continue with rebels in an effort to free the remaining hostages.
“Efforts to negotiate with the hostage-takers, who belong to the Misuari faction, are ongoing. We call on the OPAPP to address the demand and claims of the MNLF,” Salazar said, referring to Secretary Teresita Deles, President Benigno Aquino’s peace adviser.
“We call on the hostage-takers to please release the hostages as our priority is the safety and protection of the Zamboangueno community,” she said.
Misuari has accused Manila of reneging on the 1996 peace agreement.
Police said some 4,000 villagers also fled the village of Mampang that rebel forces have occupied and that government trucks have ferried them to the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex in San Jose village where thousands are already encamped since Monday.
Terrified villagers were picked up by government trucks late Tuesday. Many were begging truck drivers not to leave them behind fearing they would be held hostage by rebels. “We are looking to ferry all 4,000 people in Mampang tonight,” one police officer told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Army soldiers, backed by armoured vehicles, also put up blockades in Mampang village to prevent rebels from getting near downtown Zamboanga. One army intelligence member said a group of rebels have escaped from the village before sundown, but there were more hiding in civilian neighborhood.
The fighting has forced all commercial establishments to close down in Zamboanga where Salazar also imposed a 9-hour curfew beginning at 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. Residents also lighted candles late Tuesday in front if their houses with some offering prayers for the violence to stop. (Mindanao Examiner)
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