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Fighting enters second day in Zambo Sibugay


Government forces have cornered about a hundred suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels who are allegedly engaged in criminal activities in Payao town in Zamboanga Sibugay. “They are cornered and they are in various fighting positions," said acting Army spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc on Tuesday, a day after the military launched an air strike followed by a ground assault on the rebels’ lair. He said the group they are after is involved in kidnapping activities and is under Waning Abdulsalam, whom they said is an MILF member. The group is blamed for last week's attack on government forces that left four soldiers and three policemen dead. “We are taking this slowly because we don’t want civilians or kidnap victims to be caught in the crossfire," said Cabunoc. The MILF, which is talking peace with the government, denied that Abdulsalam is a member. Army chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz, meanwhile, said they will not allow those armed groups who attacked the troops to remain unpunished. “We will pursue them until justice is served to those they murdered. We will not allow anymore treachery on their part. No more lives of soldiers will be unnecessarily lost, much less lives of innocent civilians," he said. Cabunoc said they received reports that Abdulsalam and his men were retreating toward a shoreline where a naval blockade is in place. He said fighting was still ongoing as of Tuesday “but [it is] not as intense as that of yesterday (Monday)." The two-day assault has reportedly resulted in the deaths of six people, two of them soldiers. Cabunoc said they were able to recover the bodies of the four slain enemies. Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Oban flew to Zamboanga City, home of the Western Mindanao Command, to check on the ongoing operations in Zamboaga Sibugay and in Lanao del Norte where suspected MILF rebels killed four soldiers in an ambush last Sunday. While in Zamboanga City, Oban also awarded the Wounded Personnel Medal to the soldiers injured in recent MILF attacks, including the one in Al-Barka, Basilan last week that left 19 soldiers dead. - KBK, GMA News

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