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Written by Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews
Sunday, 19 August 2007 10 39 33
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/18 August) - Some 100 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters moved away from today's scene of fierce fighting in Basilan, to give way to the Marines’ offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.
Von Al Haq, head of the MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) said the MILF fighters decided to leave their camp in Barangay Bagindan, Unkaya Pukan town "to stay clear" from the government offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.
The MILF fighters left Barangay Bagindan late this afternoon and are expected to arrive in Barangay Guinanta, Al-Barka town tonight, he said.
He said the decision to leave came when mortar and 105 mm artillery shells landed 50 meters from the MILF camp in Barangay Baginda this morning. "It was so close. I immediately called up our counterparts from the government about our situation and they readily agreed to allow our forces to move," he said.
Al Haq’s counterpart, Brig. Gen. Edgardo Gurrea, chair of the government peace panel’s CCCH, told MindaNews the Marines “readily accepted the MILF request to pull out because the MILF camp in Barangay Bagindan is really close to Sitio Kurellem, site of the alleged Abu Sayyaf camp the Marines raided this morning.
In the fiercest fighting in Basilan since the July 10 clash in Al-Barka town, 15 Marines were killed and seven were wounded today when government troops raided an Abu Sayyaf camp occupied by some 70 Abu Sayyaf members in Sitio Kurellem, Barangay Silangkum, Unkaya Pukan town around 7 am this morning.
Five junior officers of the Philippine Marines were among those who died when the Marines engaged the Abu Sayyaf in "close quarter battle" deep inside the forest.
Sources said the Abu Sayyaf fought fiercely, taking advantage of the trees and forest canopy.
An MG 520 attack helicopter crashed on its way back to its base in Tabiawan,
Gurrea said at least 30 Abu Sayyaf rebels were also killed, among them, Umair Indama, brother of Abu Sayyaf leader, Commander Furuji.
Indama, he said, is one of the four suspects identified by a government and MILF investigation team last month to have been responsible for the beheading of ten Philippine Marines on July 10.
Gurrea said ground commanders of the Philippine Marines and the MILF were "in close contact with each other" all through out the fighting today.
He said the Marines readily accepted the MILF request to pull out “because their camp in Barangay Bagindan is really close to Sitio Kurellem.”
Gurrea said Barangay Bagindan was just two kilometers from Sitio Kurellem and government artillerymen could mistakenly fire at the rebel positions.
He said the Marines are satisfied that the MILF will not be in harm's way if they moved to one of their camps in Barangay Guinanta, Al-Barka town, five kilometers away from Sitio Kurellem.
"The peace mechanism is working very well. The MILF and the Marines are now several kilometers apart," Gurrea said.
Gurrea said television reports that the MILF are aiding the Abu Sayyaf against the Philippine Marines are not true.
Al Haq said there were "initial misgivings" from their ground commanders when the Marines started their attack in Sitio Kurellem without informing them this morning.
But Al Haq said things improved as soon as he and Gurrea managed to set up a communication link with their forces in Basilan.
He said the fighters are expected to complete their movement by tonight. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)
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