ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 9 Nov) – Three soldiers have been killed while 13 others were wounded in a series of clashes with combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Basilan since Tuesday noon, the military said.
The skirmishes prompted Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, “to call for sobriety” and allow the “peace mechanisms … to diffuse tensions, and more importantly, prevent further the loss of lives.”
Brig. Gen. Domingo Gobway, Task Force Basilan and 101st Infantry Brigade commander, said the firefight broke out noon Tuesday at a detachment in Barangay Ulitan in the municipality of Ungkaya Pukan when a soldier was hit by a sniper shot coming from an area with MILF members and lawless elements.
In a phone interview, Gobway said that five soldiers of the Army’s 18th Infantry Battalion were wounded during firefights on Tuesday, and eight more Wednesday.
At 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, three soldiers were killed in an ambush, he said.
Gobway said they tried to dialogue with the MILF but added: “Di nakikinig ang ground commanders ng MILF.” (The ground commanders of the MILF are not listening.)
“Currently, the troops are in a defense stance,” he added.
Galvez said government peace negotiators, particularly the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), immediately called representatives of both parties “in order to deescalate the situation.”
“We ask for cooperation of our partners from the MILF to stay the course and work together with the ceasefire mechanisms and government forces to uphold the ceasefire agreement which has been a product of arduous efforts from both parties in the interest of the welfare of our people and the presentation of the peace agreement,” the GPH Implementing Panel for the GPH-MILF Peace Accord said in a statement. (Frencie L. Carreon / MindaNews)
0 Comments