MANILA–The Philippine military will step up offensives against Muslim rebels after 26 soldiers were killed in the heaviest fighting in the south in nearly three years, the armed forces said yesterday.

Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said two extra battalions would be sent to the remote southern island of Jolo, where clashes between troops and Muslim separatists killed at least 58 people on Thursday.

"I'm very sad but it doesn't mean we will give up," the head of the armed forces told reporters. "We will not stop. We will go after them. We expect fiercer battles."

The army shelled Muslim rebel positions and raked them with helicopter fire overnight but suspended operations yesterday following a request from the provincial governor.

The fighting started on Thursday when gunmen ambushed a group of soldiers on their way to a market in Maimbung. Ten soldiers were killed and one was wounded.

In battles later in the day, at least 16 soldiers were killed, said a spokesperson in Zamboanga city. At least 31 rebels were killed and 25 wounded, he said. One boy was killed in crossfire.

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim rebel group that signed a peace deal with the largely Catholic government in 1996, said its members were involved and that it had asked the Organization of the Islamic Conference to help halt the fighting.

Fighting has been confined to a small part of the island of Jolo but there were dangers that it could spill over to nearby areas and other rebel groups could take advantage of the situation, said Hatimil Hassan, the MNLF deputy head and an elected member of the regional legislative assembly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The military said the rebels were from Abu Sayyaf but the less radical MNLF said its cadres were involved. Unlike Abu Sayyaf, the more secular MNLF has no known links to regional Islamic militant network Jemaah Islamiah.

Most MNLF leaders joined the government after the group signed the 1996 peace deal, which was brokered by the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Discontent has been simmering among MNLF cadres because the government wants to sign a deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim secessionist group. The MNLF says the government should first fulfil obligations due to it from the 1996 agreement.

The army has said about 100 rebels from the Abu Sayyaf and a rogue faction of the MNLF were believed to be involved in the latest fighting.

The islands of the southern Philippines, especially Jolo and nearby Basilan, are hotbeds of extremism. About 13,000 troops are on the islands to contain about 2,000 rebels.
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What can you say about the decision that the AFP made? Is it the right decision to declare war against the rebels?

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I know it's not perfect, but that's life. Life is messy sometimes.
The Grey Area (blog)

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