At least 58 people were killed Thursday when Philippine troops
raked Muslim rebel positions with helicopter gunfire and artillery
during a day of intense fighting on the southern island of Jolo.
Twenty-six of the dead were Philippine soldiers.
The fighting is the heaviest in the volatile Philippine south
for almost three years, but the military said it suspended
operations at daybreak on Friday following a request from the
provincial governor.
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim rebel group
that signed a peace deal with the government in 1996, said its
members were involved and that it had asked the Organization of the
Islamic Conference (OIC) to help stop the fighting.
"We informed the OIC of the current situation through e-mails
and a fax direct to Jeddah," said Hatimil Hassan, the MNLF deputy
head and an elected member of the regional legislative assembly in
the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Fighting has been restricted to a small part of the island but
there were dangers that it could spill over to nearby areas and
other rebel groups could take advantage of the situation, Hassan
told reporters.
The military said the rebels were from the Abu Sayyaf, which is
linked to al-Qaida, but the less radical MNLF said its cadres were
involved. The group has no known links to al-Qaida or regional
Islamic militant network Jemaah Islamiah.
The fighting started when gunmen ambushed a group of soldiers on
their way to a market in Maimbung town to buy food, local military
commander Major-General Ruben Rafael said. Ten soldiers were killed
and one was wounded.
The islands of the southern Philippines, especially Jolo and
nearby Basilan, are hotbeds of extremism. They are also home to
pirate gangs that prey on shipping in the South China Sea.
(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2007)
