2 wounded in fierce battle between Army, MILF

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Fierce fighting erupted Sunday between Filipino soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in the restive region of Mindanao, officials said. Officials said troops have launched fresh operations Sunday in the province to capture Ameril Kato, one of three rebel commanders wanted by authorities for the series of deadly attacks last year in Mindanao. Two soldiers were wounded and an undermined number of MILF rebels were either killed or injured in the fighting in the hinterlands of Datu Piang town in Maguindanao, one of six provinces under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). "Two of our soldiers are wounded in the fighting and an undetermined number of rebels are either killed or injured also in the clashes," said Army Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division. Aside from Kato, security forces are also pursuing Abdurahman Macapaar and Sulayman Panglian, who were also tagged as involved in the attacks in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Sarangani, and Maguindanao that killed dozens of innocent civilians. The government has put up P25 million bounties for the capture of the three commanders. "The 6th Infantry Division launched a law enforcement operation in support to the Philippine National Police to get Ameril Kato, head of the lawless MILF group responsible for the carnage on civilian communities in North Cotabato that claimed scores of innocent lives," Ponce said. The MILF said it would not yield the two rebel leaders. It said it would investigate their involvements in the attacks, which occurred after the aborted signing of the ancestral domain deal. The rebel group, which is negotiating peace with the Arroyo government, said the bounties would only complicate the tense situation in Mindanao. Manila has been repeatedly demanded the MILF to peacefully surrender the three commanders. "The operation being carried out is to bring Kato to the bar of justice and pay for the infraction he committed against the people and law," Ponce said. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo abolished the government peace panel and also scrapped the ancestral domain deal, which was signed July last year by peace negotiators, after the Supreme Court stopped the formal signing of the accord that would have granted Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 barangays across Mindanao. Manila said it would only resume peace talks with the MILF if it would surrender the three wanted rebel leaders. The government also demanded the rebels to surrender their weapons, which the MILF flatly rejected. The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group which is fighting for independence in the Mindanao, said it would not resume pace talks unless Arroyo honors the aborted homeland deal. Al Jacinto, GMANews.TV