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Philippine troops take MILF stronghold

Philippine troops overran a rebel Muslim stronghold in the south of the country yesterday after weeks of fighting that has left about 150 dead, a military spokesman said.

Troops took Camp Bilal after a fierce firefight with rebels under the command of Abdurahman Macapaar, also known as Commander Bravo, one of the renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.

The 100-hectare training camp borders two remote villages on Mindanao island from where Bravo’s men had planned deadly raids against civilian communities this month.

“This morning our troops overran Camp Bilal,” Captain Maamo Alonto told reporters.

The sprawling compound has facilities for training MILF fighters including a firing range with bullet-ridden targets, as well as trenches and foxholes, a reporter said.

Personal belongings of the rebels were left behind in abandoned tents and wooden structures, the reporter said.

Explosive disposal teams had to blow up some mortar shells left behind by the MILF as armored vehicles patrolled the muddy, hilly area.

There has been no word on the location of Bravo, who was earlier reported in skirmishes with troops. Brigadier General Hilario Atendido, head of a task force hunting the insurgents, said there were reports that a 300-man group had broken up into smaller bands of 50 men and scattered in different directions.

In Manila, military chief General Alexander Yano said the hunt for Bravo and fellow renegade MILF commander Umbra Kato must be pursued to its end.

“We have to show the MILF hierarchy that we are serious in punishing their members who refused to give peace a chance,” he said in a message to the troops.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said “we have reached the home of Commander Bravo. There was nothing inside but our operations will continue... until we arrest Bravo and Umbra Kato.”

The forces of Kato and Bravo occupied Christian villages, killed civilians and burned and looted houses after the Supreme Court earlier this month suspended a draft agreement intended to open the way for a formal peace accord between the government and the MILF..

Meanwhile, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) yesterday condemned the recent spate of rebel Muslim attacks on civilians in the southern Philippines.

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu condemned what he called “illegitimate acts conducted by wayward elements” of the MILF.

In a statement he expressed his “concern over reports that the Philippine government intends to freeze the [draft agreement] which came about as a result of strenuous, long and sincere efforts by both sides.”

He also said it was “unfortunate to let undisciplined elements from the MILF determine the course of negotiations or halt the peace process.”

He “urged the parties to the conflict to rapidly return to the negotiating table and continue working together,” the statement said.
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