MILF attempt to block road foiled
By ROMER S. SARMIENTO
TODAY Correspondent
KORONADAL CITY - Government troops foiled an
attempt of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels to take control of a
portion of a highway in Aleosan, North Cotabato, early Monday morning.
Soldiers were deployed on major roads in
Meanwhile, the military and the MILF on Monday also took a dig
at each other, exchanging denials regarding the fatality scoreboard.
Aleosan Mayor Vicente Soropia said that residents tipped off
government soldiers late Sunday night about the presence of rebel forces in the
boundary of his municipality and Pikit town in
“The armed men, apparently learning that soldiers have been
alerted, backed off from their plan to block the highway the next morning,” the
mayor said.
“So far since this early [Monday] morning, traffic is smooth
here,” he added, adding that the local police have been placed on red alert following
the reports from residents.
Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division,
said soldiers have been deployed in strategic points along the Davao-Cotabato
and Isulan-Cotabato highways to prevent a repeat of traffic interruptions
allegedly caused by the Moro rebels.
Aleosan town is within the stretch of the Davao-Cotabato
highway.
The military said that MILF rebels have been blocking vehicles
to rob civilian passengers of their belongings because the guerrillas are
running short of resources.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied Ando’s accusation.
Early this month suspected MILF fighters gunned down an
off-duty soldier, M/Sgt. Juanito Digno, who was onboard
a bus that was waylaid by the rebels in Pikit town. The rebels reportedly
divested the passengers of their belongings.
A week later eight civilians were killed after Moro rebels
waylaid another passenger van in Talayan, Maguindanao, which is within the
stretch of the Isulan-Cotabato highway, said Ando.
On Saturday morning thousands of commuters were stranded when
the military closed a 5-km stretch of the national highway linking the cities
of Cotabato and Kidapawan in
Since the war broke out in Pikit on February 11, the highways
of Davao-Cotabato and Isulan-Cotabato were closed several times owing to
sporadic fire fights between the military and the MILF.
Meanwhile, as sporadic gun battles continue, the military and
the MILF denials on the number of fatalities which both sides suffered.
Kabalu claimed that MILF rebels on Sunday killed three
soldiers belonging to the 40th Infantry Battalion in an ambush in barangay
Kabasalan in Pikit town.
Ando belied Kabalu’s claim, but admitted two soldiers were
wounded in the fire fight.
In sitio Tubaran, barangay Sifaran, Datu Odin Sinsuat,
Maguindanao, Ando claimed some 25 MILF rebels were killed in an encounter late
Sunday afternoon. Kabalu denied Ando’s claim.
Kabalu also accused the military of firing .81-mm mortar at
residents of barangay Pisan, Kabacan in
Ando said it was the MILF fighters who fired rocket-propelled
grenades at the village.